Hyacinth
by Kyo and Sinclair
Summary: renamedLily and James' relationship wasn't all flowers and daisies. They had a secret, a big one, that James would die rather than admit. Now that he's gone, the secret is found. Lets just say Harry wasn't the real Freak in the family
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: Isn't it obvious by now? I would totally throw in some slash if I owned it, don't you think?**_

_**One more to add to the mountain of stories I keep throwing up. But, well, that's what vacations do to you. Deal with it. And don't go sending in crap about how evil my line of thought is for me to produce this story. Screw off. But regular old constructive criticism is more than welcome, K?**_

X

Albus Dumbledore sat, stiff-backed in his chair as he waited for the goblin to finish with the reading. Today was the day of the reading of James and Lily Potter's will, and was a most somber occasion. Molly Weasley on his left was constantly dabbing at her eyes, a mangled sob escaping her throat every few seconds. Even Severus, to his right, had shining eyes, though he was considerably more drawn together. Dumbledore could tell that he didn't give much of a thought to James' passing, but Lily had been an old friend.

After what seemed like hours, the giving of all their earthly belongings was finished, and the Goblin handed Dumbledore a thin envelope. The entire congregation left and he went around saying a few comforting words here and there, pausing for a while in front of Severus, who had set himself all by himself in the corner of the room. "Severus, how are you?"

Severus gave him a blank look, holding the shrunken memory box tightly in his long fingers. "Of course I am, Albus." he snapped, though it lacked it's usual bite. "It's been over a month. I've resigned myself to the idea by now, as I should have."

Dumbledore sighed, placing a hand on his surrogate son's shoulder. "Don't keep all of your emotions on the inside, Severus." he advised. "It will only hurt you more."

Severus shrugged off his hand, schooling his mask that had nearly disappeared. "So what is in the letter, Albus?" he asked, obviously changing the subject.

Dumbledore pulled out the letter, one of a few things he had been given by the Potters. He let himself examine it for the first time. It was made from thick green parchment that was practically leaking with charms and sealing spells. Whatever was written was obviously very important. Too important for the likes of him to read, surely. He didn't know them nearly well enough for something like this to find it's way into his hands.

Furrowing his thick white brows, Albus opened the letter, pulling out a single piece of paper. It was just your average piece of Muggle paper, lineless, and written in pen.

Albus Dumbledore

Albus, I know that this is going to sound strange, but I really have no choice. How I wish that this never had to come out, but if you are reading this than I am dead and there is no other way. You may be confused if you are receiving this and James is still alive, but whatever you do, don't show the contents of this letter to him. Please, this means everything to me, Professor.

Do you remember when little Harry was born? I had him at home at James' insistence. He was so little and perfect, but James was acting really jumpy and tense. Sirius teased him for it, and Remus seemed concerned, but he brushed it off as nerves.

Which brings me to the point of this letter. You'll need Severus for this. I would have told him, but you know how he can be. To find out what you need to know, tell The Stag where the best grass grows.

And Albus, please hurry. Who knows how long Borey can hold out?

Lily Evans Potter

Dumbledore blinked in confusion. "What………?"

"What is it?" asked Severus, arching an elegant black brow.

"It is this letter. Lily wrote it……. Severus, it does not make any sense."

"Can I see it?" asked the young Potions Professor, not really expecting it. It was sent to Dumbledore after all, not him.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. Lily said I would need you for this. Later though."

"Yes. Yes of course, Albus. Thank you."

He nodded. "Do the words 'Tell the Stag where the green grass grows' mean anything to you?"

"Well, yes actually. The Stag was our nickname for an old statue of hers. In fourth year we went into Hogsmeade and she saw a statuette of an old man. It looked so much like a deer that she said she just had to buy it. She called it The Stag."

"And 'where the green grass grows'?"

"She always used to say that the greenest grass in the world was to be found in Godric's Hollow."

No sooner than the words left his lips the box in Severus' hand gave a great jerk. He looked down at it in surprise, and immediately reached to open the lid. The room had since cleared out and would stay empty for the next hour, so Albus took the box from him, set it on the floor, bespelling it to it's correct size (roughly the size of a trunk). They immediately bent down and started to sift through it. There were dozens of trinkets, all of which held deep meaning for Severus, but they moved through them until they reached an ugly little statuette that was glowing bright green. They both reached for it at the same time. Their fingers had barely brushed it before both men felt a distinct pull behind their navels and were pulled into nothing.

They both crashed hard on unyielding stone, completely disoriented. "A portkey?" hissed Severus, rubbing his knee. He was normally rather good with Portkey 's, but he had been taken by complete surprise this time. "Where are we?"

Dumbledore looked around. They were on a stone courtyard, overlooking a cliff, right in front of a small cottage. Something about the cottage bothered him, but he decided to ignore it. "Severus…." he asked as he examined the windowless structure, the padlocks on the outside. "Do you know who Borey is?"

"A House Elf I believe. He was a favorite of James'. Died around the time Harry was born."

"The letter mentioned him. It said she wasn't sure how long Borey could last."

"But he died."

"Apparently not."

Severus looked the cottage up and down. "We're going in there then. Alright. I am just relieved that I brought my wand with me."

Dumbledore nodded. "As am I."

X

Severus paced back and forth in front of Dumbledore's desk, practically foaming at the mouth. "How dare he!" he snarled. "You told me he grew up! You told me he had changed! That he was mature!"

"I know…." said Dumbledore, head in hands.

"He **_acted _**normal, he **_acted _**sane, but it's obviously only gotten worse since we were in school! Black's inbred psychosis must have worn off on him! Or more likely, the other way around!"

"Severus………"

"And why wouldn't Lily tell me! We were so close, she could have trusted me! She should have! I would have helped her!"

"I'm sure she had her reasons." he said. "She wouldn't have agreed to this otherwise. You knew her…."

"Yes, but POTTER! I never should have let her marry him! I should have- -!"

Severus' rant was cut off by a loud squall in the corner of the room. They spun around and looked warily at the screaming infant, paling. It's mop of black hair fell into it's face, it's unnatural grey eyes mercilessly shut. Neither could summon the courage to go over and calm the baby, so they merely watched it voice it's unhappiness.

Fawkes looked between the two men, obviously annoyed. Seeing them just watching the miserable creature, the huge bird raised it's head towards the ceiling before rising from his perch and flying over. He nuzzled his head against the baby, cooing softly. After a minute or so the sobs slowed, then stopped all together, and it reached up and hugged the big bird. Fawkes swept a wing over the one-year-old, sending the men a half scathing, half smug look that just seemed to scream 'Now was that really so hard? And you call yourselves wizards. Pathetic.'.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. Severus rubbed his left forearm uncomfortably. They both were rather embarrassed to be set on their asses by a bird. Severus held up the letter they had retrieved at the cottage.

Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape

I am glad that you figured out the letter, and by now I think you have at least an idea of what's going on. That is, if Borey has done his job. I suppose that the story will have to come out now. Just please don't take it too horribly.

When James and I conceived Harry, an Incubus came only a few nights later. You know how they work. Nothing could be done. We wouldn't have know at all if it weren't for Borey coming in to straighten up. He frightened off the Incubus and woke us up. We were so frightened when we found out about the pregnancy, we didn't know what do. We decided to wait it out, which is why I gave birth at home. Thankfully little Harry was one hundred percent James and I's. But what no one else knew was that I had another baby that night. That child is in this cottage with you right now. He was made by the Incubus, and is only half witch. In little over ten years he won't even be that. We looked up Incubi and found out that they sometimes get jealous if the woman they're with is pregnant, and if it's early enough on they'll make their own. James was enraged and hated the baby right off. He wouldn't even let me name him. He would have had me abandon him, but I convinced him to let me send him away. Since there was nowhere to leave him, we sent him up to his family's cottage with Borey, and never brought him back. I was only able to visit him a few times but I already love him so.

In a way my death is almost good thing. At least this way my son will be taken care of. Somehow. There has only been a handful of half-Incubus children in history, and he will likely be a difficult child to raise, but I beg of you to please find a way. He deserves the love his mother could never give him.

Lily Evans

Severus resisted the urge to crumple the paper in his fist. "Albus….."he said, forcing calm into his voice that he didn't possess. "What will we do with him?"

"I don't know." he said, practically falling in on himself. "Voldemort didn't know of him, so blood protection isn't necessary. Any Muggle is out. But so are most magic people…….."

"A beast perhaps? Something close to an Incubus? A vampire perhaps?"

"Really Severus, how many Vampires adopt?"

"True. A werewolf?"

"Perhaps…. But the only good one I know is Remus and I couldn't do that to him."

A small grin touched his lips. "Molly Weasley?"

"Really Severus, she's pregnant and has five sons."

"It was worth suggestion."

Dumbledore rubbed his temples. "Perhaps blood ties would be best. At least they would have a good reason not to refuse."

"I would take him if I could." said Severus. "Worst to Worst I will. But if there is any other choice, it would be wise to avoid giving a child to an ex-death eater."

"That and you hate children."

Severus shrugged. "That to."

"Perhaps, for now, we should focus on where he'll stay tonight."

"…….Narcissa………she spoils Draco rotten……… she'd be able to put up with a child for a few days. She loves children and I've no doubt that there is more than one crib in Malfoy Manor."

"Very well." Dumbledore walked to the fireplace, throwing in a handful of Floo Powder. The flames turned green and he stuck in his head. "Malfoy Manor!"

X

Lucius watched as his wife fretted and fussed over the tiny orphaned child. Dumbledore hadn't said much, but this was apparently a babe that had been abandoned for being only half wizard. He didn't know what the other half was, but from the way he spoke Lucius could tell it wasn't Muggle. This was likely a half creature, and if so there was really no better place he could go than to them. He and Narcissa were both half Veela 's, a trait undoubtedly carried on to Draco. He couldn't begin to guess what the child was though. Not Veela. His hair was too dark. Werewolf genes weren't hereditary. Vampires couldn't have children at all.

Narcissa said she could almost see the inhuman in his aura. Almost, but not quite. She said that it just had that **_wrongness _**that part-creatures had. Lucius wouldn't know. Aura reading was not a skill he possessed.

"Lucius, could you get me a wet cloth? His face is so dirty, the poor thing!"

He quickly conjured up a wet cloth, handing it over and watching as she dabbed at the little boy's face, talking in that aggravating baby voice he could only pray he didn't partake in. Narcissa was of very high class and to hear such sounds from her mouth was more than a bit disturbing.

The wealthy wizard was brought from his musings as he felt a tiny tug on his pants. Looking down his face broke into a tiny smile. "Yes Draco?" he asked, making certain to keep his voice mature and even.

Draco looked up at him with innocent blue eyes, tugging his golden Unicorn plushie by it's horn. "Fodder, who dat?" he asked, pointing a chubby little finger to where his mother was cleaning up the other baby.

Lucius opened his mouth to answer, but stopped. He looked to Narcissa. "What did Dumbledore say his name was?"

Narcissa blinked. "You know, he didn't say. I suppose it comes with being abandoned, huh?"

"Well we'll need to call him something while he's here."

Narcissa looked the baby up and down, running her fingers through his scraggily hair. "He reminds me of a puppy. Can we call him that?"

"What?"

"Puppy."

"Are you insane?"

Narcissa smiled. "Perhaps a little. But just look at him! Doesn't he look just like a little puppy?"

Lucius gave the boy a look over. His eyes were big, true, but so were Draco 's. Maybe if he had brown eyes it'd be easier to imagine. Oh well. It would be best to just humor her. "A puppy you say? A lost little puppy…….. Stray maybe?"

"Oh that's perfect!" she exclaimed, giving her husband a peck on the cheek. A sisterly kiss. They had known each other since they were toddlers themselves, and the arranged marriage had changed little. They had relationships of their own and slept in different rooms, not that this even remotely fazed either of them.

"Stway?" asked Draco, toddling over to his mother to look at the boy. His little brow furrowed cutely as he looked at the other baby. Draco was a bit bigger, and obviously more far along then the other, so Lucius guessed them to be around three months apart. Maybe. "Iz dat Dwako's brodder?"

Narcissa laughed. "No no, sweety. We're merely watching him for a day or two."

Draco nodded. "O-tai. He not look like Dwako anyways."

Lucius wondered vaguely if he should be proud of his son for discerning that they weren't related with his little year-and-a-half-old brain, or should simply be amused at how adorable he was. After a moments deliberation, the wealthy Slytherin chose the latter and moved foreword to give his son a much-deserved hug.

X

It was the third day of little Stray's stay, and Lucius was getting aggravated. Not by the child of course, for he secretly adored children and this one was surprisingly well-behaved. Not to mention he got on with Draco famously, a feat no other infant had ever quite managed. No, Lucius was upset because he had spent more than his fair share of time in his library and had yet to figure out what in the bloody hell the boy was. He had went through tome after tome of dark creatures, wild creatures and light creatures, dutifully reading anything and everything he could on the effects of breeding them with humans. There seemed to be at least one documented case on just about everything, but nothing seemed to match.

Lucius sighed heavily as he went over Unicorn Halflings(**_he did NOT want to know how THAT had come about_**), mentally crossing things out. "Good tempered….. Docile….. Loves attention….. Damn, no horn." he closed the book, crossing his arms over it and looking across the room at where his wife showed off tiny magics to the boys. Draco squealed with joy as a unicorn shaped bubble galloped around him, and Stray reached out futilely to try and catch a tiny feathered creature that kept tickling his cheek when it got close. He wished he had a camera for this, but decided that duplicating a memory in a pensive would work just as well.

Narcissa flashed him a winning smile, completely in her mothering element. "Lucius, isn't this just precious?" she said as Stray flopped backwards, beaming as the flying thing started to do figure eights above him.

"What spell is that?" he asked curiously.

"Patronus Minimums." she said. "It'll make a bubbled version of a Patronus. Since it's an animal that does or will hold meaning for a child, children simply love to play with them. I love the fact that Draco 's is a Unicorn. It's perfect considering all his little toys."

Lucius cocked his head to the side. "What's Stray's? I can't really tell from here."

"I'm not sure. Looks like a bird, sort of, but not really. An……. Angel? Maybe?"

Lucius shrugged it off, returning to his books. After a few minutes he looked up again. "Narcissa?"

"Yes Lucius?"

"Has Stray done anything that would suggest that he has deep rooted homicidal urges?"

"No dear."

"Oh, okay….."

X

**Lol. There's chapter one. I'm not entirely sure about where he'll be though. Should I go crappy orphanage or neglectful family(i.e. the Dursely's)? PLEASE SEND REVIEWS AND SUGGESTIONS! Also, who wants to name Stray's daddy? If you make it one of those old, weird name that nowadays kids would kill you for, than extra points! (examples: Septimus, Romulus, etc. etc.)**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter………..yet**_

_**You told me and I answered! Stray will be raised in…..(insert drum roll)….. The Dursely House! **_

_**X**_

****On the fourth day of Stray's stay,(giggle giggle, rhymes!) they were all seated in the parlor watching the fire in comfortable silence, broken only by the cracking of the logs and the occasional contented gurgle of the babies as they took turns nuzzling Draco's plushie. Narcissa watched them both, smiling that smile that only mother's have, and Lucius thumbed half-heartedly through an old Creatures text.

Around the time he reached chapter fifty buh-jillion elevinty four, after he had confidently decided that Stray's lack of poisonous fins and gills erased Higglypunks from the seemingly never-ending list, the small, warm fire roared upwards, turning acidic green, and spewing Dumbledore onto the expensive fur carpet, along with a rather wary looking Severus.

"Headmaster!" trilled Narcissa, getting to her feet and running over. "How nice to see you again! Please, please sit down!"

"Don't mind me." drawled Severus, rolling his eyes. "I'll just stand over in the corner."

Lucius mimicked his action, standing and giving him a clap on the shoulder. "Pleasant as usual, Severus. No big surprise there. What have you been up to since the other day?"

His nearly life-long friend sneered, but he did not miss the cagey look he sent to the smallest person in the house. Lucius raised an eyebrow, before walking over to his chair, picking up the book he had been looking through, taking out the sheet of parchment he had been jotting on. (at this point Narcissa and Albus are talking animatedly at the other end of the room about Draco, her favorite subject). "Severus, about the child you left in our care- -"

"Don't worry, Lucius, that is why we are here. We located relatives, he will be gone within the hour."

Lucius nodded, ignoring the slight pang of regret to lose the sweet little being. "Very well. But you see Narcissa and I have a few inquiries to make about our little house guest."

Severus nodded, a sign for him to continue.

"First and foremost, his name."

"His father forbid the boy to be named. Under the circumstances, I would think it is simply whatever name Dumbledore comes up with. I fear he'll end up a Lolly or "

Lucius furrowed his brow. "We've called him Stray so far. He seems to like it."

Severus gave him an odd look, his lip twitching. "I…. ehem, I will tell the Headmaster to include that bit of information when he is given to his relatives."

"Alright. Now…" Lucius cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Would you object to telling me what, exactly, I have allowed into my home?"

Severus blinked. "What?"

"Stray. Who is he, and what is he? Normally something like this would be handled by the Ministry Child Services. This is obviously a special case for you and Dumbledore to be working on it."

Severus rubbed his temples miserably. "Damn you and your ways, Lucius." he glared at the slightly shorter man, before sinking into a chair. "Alright. You have a right to know, I suppose. Just remember that he is only a baby, hardly a year old at that."

Lucius nodded impatiently. "Yes, yes! Enough with the dramatics!"

"The boy, Stray as you call him, was the second son of one Lily Potter."

Lucius choked, despite the fact that he hadn't been drinking anything. "W-what! But the Potters only had one child! The one who defeated Voldemort was an only child! Everybody knows that!"

"No. They were twins. Lily was apparently taken by an Incubi during the beginnings of her pregnancy. James was so disgusted that he sent the newborn to an unknown cabin in the mountains with only a House Elf for company. She left a note in her will to lead us to him. We've decided to send him to live with his brother, under the guise that he has been in the hospital and was only recently released. He won't show many of the Incubi traits until he has his purging, and by that time he will be secured in school, where we can watch him and keep him and everyone else safe."

"I can't imagine the Muggle caretakers to want anything to do with…. Well, one of them."

Severus nodded, looking annoyed. "That is what I said. They are Muggles obsessed with normalcy, and young 'Stray' is about as strange as they come. Potter's clone was likely already a stretch for them. But Albus assures me that the boy will be normal enough to get on with them for the duration of his stay."

Lucius nodded. "Very well. But if anything happens…"

Severus raised a brow. "Why Lucius, do I detect a hint of compassion?"

Lucius smirked, resisting the urge to stick out his tongue. "No, merely my attempt to keep Narcissa from swooping down at me. I do believe she loves the boy already."

"I am not surprised. So Lucius, tell me of your young guest's stay?"

X

Albus shifted uncomfortably at his desk, quill hovering hesitantly over the papers before him. He cleared his throat, lowering the tip to the paper.

"What are you doing!" snapped Narcissa, glaring down at him with molten mercury eyes.

"I'm just writing his name." said the old man, trying desperately to hide how intimidated he was by the woman's glare. Honestly, he was six times her age! He defeated Grindlewald! He shouldn't be afraid of a 5'7", 130 pound witch!

"And just **_WHAT _**did you intend to write, hm? Not **_your _**little idea I hope?"

"It's a perfectly acceptable name, Narcissa!"

"Of course it is." she sniffed, crossing her arms. "If you're asking for a new Dark Lord that is."

"It's a **_great _**name for a child!"

"But BonBon Saccharine Evans? It's okay for a little girl maybe, but he is a little boy. One that will grow up to be a man. He'll be teased relentlessly for the rest of his life. I'm sorry headmaster, but that sounds like the name of a hooker."

Albus sent a 'trust me, I know everything' look her way, but apparently she had set up shields for such advances beforehand. "Narcissa….."

"No! I'm not backing down! I've known that child for far longer than you- - -"

"Four days!"

"- - - and I'll tell you right now, he is NOT a BonBon!" she spun around on her heel, glaring at Lucius and Severus, who had been watching the whole display. "You agree with me, don't you Luc? He needs a better name! A good one! A dignified one!"

"Like Draco?" said Severus in bemusement.

"Yes! Exactly! Or we could keep the name he already has!"

"Why don't we follow the Evan legacy?"

"What?"

"They all have flower names as far as I've seen. Why not……… Stray Mandrake Evans? Or something?"

Narcissa wrinkled her nose. "Mandrake? As in those screamy little monster plants? What if he actually sees one? He'd hate whoever gave him the name forever!"

"Sugarcane?" said Dumbledore innocently.

"No! A flower!"

As one can well imagine, this argument went on for a very very long time. The fact that any flower name would, in essence, be a feminine name was brought up and immediately shot down until they all came to a grudging agreement.

"Stray Cosette Violet Evans." said Narcissa, picking up the rather drowsy baby and spinning him around. "That's your name little one! But I think I'll just keep calling you Stray, huh?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "That child is going to grow up a Homicidal Maniac." he said, looming over Narcissa 's shoulder to look at the tiny half-human. "And it won't be because of his name, I'll tell you that much."

"Don't be so negative, Severus my boy." said Albus, though he was still a bit put out after all of his candy-based names were refused. "I'll just sign the papers and be on my way to bring little… Stray… to his new home."

X

**_Yeah, I know. Short. But I got hit in the head really hard yesterday so this is the most my frazzled head can come up with. Sorry. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**I wish I could write non-OC stories. More people would probably read this stuff at least. Oh well. If anyone gets a good slash idea without OC 's and not Ron/Harry that they can't be bothered to write, please give me a call? Please?**_

_**Disclaimer: I own lotsa stuff, but this ain't one of 'em.**_

_**X**_

_**3 years later (they're 4)**_

****The young raven-haired child yawned into his hand as he ran the opposite one through the garden in a semblance of work. It was his job to weed the gardens today, but there didn't appear to be anything left to pull up. Not that that would get him out of work or anything, but it was a nice change of pace. Only two hours in the summer sun and he could go inside at any given moment.

He turned his silver eyes to the kitchen window and could just barely see his brother's mop of hair bobbing about as he prepared sandwiches for Dudley and his friend. Couldn't say he envied him. That was his job yesterday and it was a tad more than a chore to keep the ravenous pig satiated. He liked to consider himself as the best and only true family that his brother had, and he would do just about anything for him, but he had to draw the line at stepping between him and the fat swine that was known as Dudley. At least when there was food involved.

He sighed as he heard a loud shout from the house and a muffled squeak. "Yard work done." he murmured, wiping his tiny hands off on his threadbare jeans. It looked like it was time to go save his little brother again.

He sprinted to the house and situated himself between Dudley, his friend, and his little brother. It was ironic really that he called him that. The both of them were small for their age but his green-eyed counterpart still held a good three inches over him. And when you were the size they were, 3 inches was a big deal. Deep down he had a feeling that they didn't even look much like the other. Beyond being pale, overly thin and raven-haired, they had little to no similarities. At least appearance wise.

"Wadder you doin' inside, Freak?" asked Dudley as Peter Polkiss snickered behind him. One had to wonder if the rat-like child noticed that his 'leader' sounded like piglet. "Yer 'posed at be doin' the garden like Mum said. I'll tell!"

"Just finished." he chirped in his appropriately cute voice, though he made sure to sound confidant. "Now leave him 'lone! Go eat a bowl of chicken grease, or are you too hungry for nibbles?"

Dudley's face turned bright pink and he brought up his fist, shaking it in a surprisingly accurate portrayal of his father when he was angry. "You cant talk at me 'z like that, Freak! Yer just a Freak! Dad says!"

"And you're a fat piggy! The doctor says!" he stuck out his tongue, just for good measure.

Dudley's face turned puce at being face-to-face with the absolute most horrid insult a four year old could possibly offer. "I'M TELLING!" he shouted, before waddling out of the room, Polkiss at his heels.

His green-eyed twin looked at him in horror. "You're going to get into trouble!" he whimpered, clutching a dish towel to his chest with shaky hands. "You're gonna get yelled at! Why'd you do that!"

The grey-eyed boy shrugged nonchalantly, sticking his hands into his pockets, fiddling with the holes at the bottom. "You didn't wanna get squashed didja? 'Cuz last time he picked a fight with you, you fainted cuz he pushed out all the air in your belly with his butt."

He shot him a dirty look. "Quit talking 'bout that!" he hissed. "He might do it again!"

"I don't think so. Lucky it was in the gardens, though. You started making hissing noises and a snake went up Dudley's leg." he smirked. "Snake must've thought you were his big-big-big-big brother!"

The momentarily good atmosphere of the room was abruptly torn to shreds as their Horse Faced Aunt Petunia (yes, all capitals. It's her title ;P) stormed into the room, practically seething with fury. "BOY! FREAK!" she screeched, making them want, but not dare, to put their hands over their ears. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO DUDDYKINS?"

Freak, as he was so unfortunately called, blinked. Though overreacting was her prerogative, this seemed just a tad much. "I…… stuck my tongue out? It's not like it hurt him."

"LIAR!" she spat, flexing her fingers like she was doing her best not to strangle him. "I **_know _**what you did you sorry little ingrate! How **_dare _**you put your disgusting, freakish little hands on MY SON?"

Freak glanced at his hands. "There not dirty, Aunt Petunia. It's too dry this summer. It's all dust."

"DON'T YOU GET SMART WITH MY YOU ABOMINATION! I know what you are and DON'T YOU THINK that you're going to scare **_me _**into letting you act like a little smart-ass in my home! My home which, MIGHT I REMIND YOU, I so graciously let you and you're horrible little sibling invade! I feed you and clothe you and put a roof over your head and WHAT DO I GET?"

"But! Aunt Petunia, Dudley was picking on Boy again! I couldn't just let him!"

"AND NOW YOU'RE SPREADING LIES?"

"No!" Freak couldn't help it. Cunning he may be, but he was still four, and four year olds don't have much in the way of common sense. "He's the one who lies! Dudley is! All me and Boy ever do is try t make you happy! He never gets off of his fat butt and does anything, maybe if he did he'd not look like a beached whale so much- -"

His silver eyes opened wide as a loud crack sounded through the kitchen. For a moment everything was still, as if time had suddenly stopped. In a trance, he brought a tiny hand to his burning cheek. Aunt Petunia….. Had slapped him.

If anything, Petunia looked even more surprised than any of the children. She despised the burden of raising her freak-of-a-sister's children, **_especially _**the little one. She'd read the letter left with him and she wasn't stupid. This boy was even less of a human than his mother had been and it had been everything she could do to convince Vernon not to kill him or send him off to be dissected by scientists. The only reason the boys were as intact as they were was the fear that they would fly into a blind rage and kill them all. Harry, Boy, could very well turn into a dog like that horrid man she'd met during Christmas all those years ago, and Stray (a filthy Freaks name if ever there was one) would go mad and tear them to pieces with his teeth.

Petunia felt a shudder run up her back and she looked up from the red mark she had left on his cheeks and into his silvery orbs. Instead of the blind rage or madness she had feared seeing for the past three years, she saw that they looked scared, confused and frightened. She carefully turned her gaze his brother. This child also lacked the anger that should have been there. Confusion and concern shone like torches.

Feeling a huge weight lift from her shoulders, Petunia straightened and smirked sadistically. "Freak….. Boy…." she said in a falsely pleasant voice that a deaf person could have seen through. "Go to your cupboard….. You are both to stay there until I tell you otherwise…. Do you understand?"

They both nodded fearfully, pressing against each other for comfort. With the pitter-pattering of feet that held an innocence that she felt no abnormal or inhuman creature deserved to posses, they disappeared from sight.

Dudley looked up at his mother, looking only a bit weary. "Mummy?"

Petunia's face broke into a wide, insane smile. "Don't worry Diddydums." she said, placing a hand on top of his blonde head. "Mummy hears a new door opening for this family. Things are going to change from here on out."

X

_**Maybe I'm being a bit… well…. Cruel. But if you think about it, the only thing out of character is the fact that Stray is still alive. They wanted to drown Harry for being a wizard, a human who does magic. Stray is half wizard, half Incubus. Not only do few people not know what they are, they're 'evil spirits that feed off of women's purity by indulging in forced sexual acts'. Do not try and tell me Petunia would like him. **_

_**Please read and review. I'll answer any and all stories to the best of my abilities. Scouts honor!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Sorry it took so long to update. I keep stopping myself, trying to decide where to go with this. I mean, I know where it will end up, vaguely, but how the story'll get there…. Well who knows, right? Anyways, if you guys have any ideas to help the story move along, I'd appreciate your sharing them with me. It'd probably lead to much much faster updates, ya know. Anyhoo, here's chapter…4.**_

_**X**_

5 years later (their nine)

Petunia scowled down at the smallest member of the house. "What the fuck is that look for, Freak?" she hissed, her dark brown eyes narrowing into slits.

Freak, or Stray as his teacher called him at school, fidgeted slightly under his aunt's gaze. "N-nothing, Aunt Petunia. I don't h-have a look." he whimpered in his soft voice, thin fingers twisting at his sleeves.

If possible, Petunia's eyes narrowed even more, all though on the inside she could feel a smug sense of satisfaction. The feisty boy that had once infuriated her was long gone, and in his place was a servant, a slave. The perfect nephew, almost. "Are you contradicting me, Freak?"

His eyes widened a fraction, though he hid his fear as best he could. "N-no Ma'am. I would never contradict you, Ma'am. You only do what's best for a freak like me."

"Exactly." she sneered, tapping her left hand atop the page of the large book she was currently reading. "And what is best for you right now, Freak, is for you and Boy to continue on with what you both were doing before I am forced to tell Vernon that you misbehaved. You wouldn't want me to do that, now would you?"

Boy, who had been none-too-subtly watching his twin from the corner of his eye, quickly turned back to dusting coffee table, while Freak returned to expertly painting Petunia's nails, resisting the urge to pass out. Freak could never stand strong smells, and nail polish was the worst. Once he actually had passed out, in essence spilling the polish on the carpeted floor, waking ours later covered in bruises in The Cupboard. He knew better to pull such a foolish stunt ever again.

Petunia watched the unusually small boy for a moment, before returning to her book. She had read it hundreds of times over, and practically had it memorized, but knew that it was better to be safe then sorry. It was a Freak book, one she'd been mailed (by owl no less) by that horrid Dumbledore man, on Freak and Boy's fifth birthday. It spoke all of Incubus, their history, their creation, and best of all, how to raise one.

A slight smirk touched her lips. Not that she was following the directions. In fact, she was doing everything exactly opposite. After all, she had no intentions of raising one to be healthy and strong. Who would do such a thing? Foolish and abnormal as they were, Petunia doubted even a…. **_wizard _**would care for a raping spirit, be they child or not.

Petunia had actually had no intention of even reading the book, but something had drawn her to it, and things were all the better for it. As it turned out, Incubi and Succubi, their female counterparts, held the exact same genes and '**_magical signature'_** (shudder), and were in essence, the same animal. They could only be born when one mated with a human, and were generally distinguished with their genders. Males were Incubus, and females Succubi. Simple enough.

But it turned out that that was hardly the last word in the matter. You see, if a male was brought up in a more feminine way (I.e. more like a girl) then after their 'Purging' (a disgusting sounding time when the mortal blood was forced from the body) they would stand as a male Succubus.

Succubus were decidedly less wild than an incubus, though more powerful. They held more of their human mind, if not the blood, inside, so that they actually changed little in their personality. While an Incubus would go after their own Mother if they were weak enough, a Succubus would not.

Needless to say Petunia had been intrigued and immediately brought the book to Vernon. It was a lucky draw that she had even seen this page, as she had merely flipped to a random section, so the husband and wife had sent the children from the house and sat down together to read the entire book.

Petunia glanced down as Stray finished her nails. The proof of their efforts were easy to see. While Incubi and Succubi (I'm gonna call them Demons in plural from now on) were children, the Inc.'s required lots of sunlight and exercise, while Suc.'s proffered moonlight while they played. Obviously 'Play' was a luxury the Durselys wouldn't give, but now Stray would only work in the garden at night, and Harry during the day. Inc.'s needed twice the red meat as a normal child, while Suc.'s could only eat a small amount, but were strongly attracted to white meat. Petunia, when she gave them food from the leftovers of the meals they prepared, made sure that only Harry received the red, and Stray the white.

There were dozens of other little things that she did also, and others that she felt would help with the Femininity that the book spoke of. She gave Harry Dudley's used clothes, and Stray received clothing from when she herself was a child. Though it sickened her to allow **_her own clothes _**to be soiled by his freakishness, she bared with the pain and did her best to mold the creature to her whim.

And it had worked. She had actually manipulated a Dark Creature into becoming something completely different. Vernon had tried to take the credit, but she didn't care. She had done it. It was oh so obvious to even the untrained eye that Stray Evans would grow up to be a girlish as a boy could be.

His eyes, which were narrow when he was younger, were now slanted instead, giving them an almost Asian look. His cheekbones were high and his hair, which they hadn't cut once in his life, was thick and wavy. His pale skin only added to the look, making him look like a tiny china doll. He was very thin do to malnutrition, but when he tossed his head to free his face from his hair, one could tell that were he to eat regularly he would never grow muscular or tall.

"Aunt Petunia?" said a soft voice.

Petunia snapped from her musings, looking down at pair of green-eyed children in font of her. "Yes?' she snapped, making her disdain for speaking to them obvious.

Harry pushed his glasses up on his nose, a nervous gesture he had developed years ago, taking hold of Stray's elbow, as if to anchor him. "Well… um…. .I-I mean…"

"Spit it out!" she snapped, digging her dry nails briefly into his shoulder, watching him flinch with satisfaction.

Stray took a miniscule step foreword, an achievement in and of itself. Stray was, after all, much more afraid of Petunia than Harry was. "What Har-I mean Boy- is trying to say is.. Well, Ma'am, we got pulled out of class today, by the school nurse."

Petunia's eyes widened, then narrowed. "What happened?" she hissed through gritted teeth. "Why the FUCK did she want to talk to you?"

Stray fidgeted on the spot, looking anywhere but at Petunia. "Well… um…. You know how the school makes us eat, even though we don't bring money or even go through the line? Even though we told them that it makes us sick?"

Petunia glared, making it obvious she wanted him to continue.

"Well, uh, um, I-I have to throw up every day, and Harry sometimes too. We-we-we can't help that we have to, like you said the food is too much for us Ma'am, we can't hold it in Ma'am. Well, um, these boys in the fifth grade and heard sometimes, 'cuz they're in there you know…. And, well, told the nurse…"

**_"_**And then?" hissed Petunia, despising his soft, babbling voice more and more by the second.

"Well" butted in Harry, noticing Petunia's annoyance. "Missus Hart talked to other kids who all see us run into the bathroom or whatever a lot, and she took it into her head that, we're.. um.. What was the word?…. Bulimic I think. She thinks we throw up on purpose to lose weight. She said she was gonna call you tonight to talk to you about it, but since she hadn't called yet we thought you should know…."

Harry trailed off and the two of them moved closer together, scared to death of the consequences of something that wasn't their fault. Their stomachs weren't used to rich foods, sweet foods, or much food at all. The lunch they were served at school was simply impossible for them to eat, and they both knew it.

Petunia hissed angrily, standing abruptly and giving them each a sharp slap across the face. "YOU BLITHERING INGRATES!" she shrieked. "HOW DARE YOU BRINGTROUBLE DOWN UPON YOUR FAMILY'S HEADS? What the HELL is wrong with you! I'll teach you, you little monsters!

_**VERNON!"**_

X

Two hours later found Harry and Stray scrunched up inside their cupboard, trying weakly to nurse each other's wounds. It was dark, dirty, and smelled of blood, but they managed as well as two nine year olds could.

"Harry?" whispered Stray softly, breaking the silence around them.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For making things worse for you."

Harry looked at his twin with soft eyes, the normal acid colored orbs dark with concern. "You don't make things harder on me, Stray." he said. And it was true. When they were younger, Stray had protected him, but as they got older, it was Stray that needed protection. The Durselys had focused all of their hate on Stray, and all but forgotten about Harry. He wasn't sure what they hated him for, or what they were doing treating him the way they did, but it wasn't good.

A shudder passed through him as he remembered the day, a few months after their fifth birthday. It was the scariest day of his short life, and would forever be burned into his mind. He didn't know the whole story, and Stray didn't seem to remember it at all, but he knew enough to know something was wrong.

Vernon had come to their cupboard in the middle of the night, yanking Stray out by the hair. Harry had been locked in, but watched from the cracks as his tin was brought to the living room and thrown inside a circle of odd-looking candles. Petunia started chanting from a book , the same book that she always kept on her now, and Vernon had taken out a knife and made a nick on Stray's cheek, going downward like a tear-track. When it started to bleed it mingled with Stray's tears of fright and pain, making him cry red.

Suddenly Stray screamed and a horrible ripping sound filled the room. He bent over foreword and his back seemed to stretch upwards, until the flimsy material of his shirt ripped and bloody wings tore through and into the air. Beneath the blood were pure-white feathers with black tips, though it was difficult to tell. Stray's screams lowered into muffled sobs as the wings flapped experimentally, sending blood all over the carpet.

At that moment Harry could only think of one thing. His brother was an angel. A good and pure angel. It only made sense after all. His brother protected him all the time, took all the hard hits for him, gave him food he snuck from the kitchens, though rarely sneaking any for himself. But if he was an angel, why did the Durselys hate him? They always spoke of God and how they were being punished for their parents sins. That they deserved it. But why would God punish one of his angels?

Vernon didn't seem at all awed, though. In fact, he got angry. He grabbed a hold of Stray's new wings, and began to roughly saw them off. Stray screamed again and again, louder than before as they were torn from him. Harry watched through tear filled eyes as they ripped away an angel's wings, throwing them into the fire like trash, smiling as if they had single-handedly purged the world of evil.

Harry's eyes clouded over as he looked at Stray's back. There, directly on his shoulder blades, were long thick scars, proof of the Durselys sins. Stray had never been the same. When he was deep in thought he would stare into the fireplace longingly, and feared the his so-called family to the point that he shook when they looked at him. His growth slowed, his limbs weakened. Harry could tell he was suffering, whether he knew why or not.

Harry wasn't overly religious, and doubted if he ever would be, but they had stripped an angel of his wings. He knew that, despite what they said, the Durselys were destined for Hell.

X

_**Don't ask me. Seriously. I wrote this as more of a 'why stray will be the way he…will be' chapter. I looked it over when I finished, and couldn't believe how weird I sounded. Just ignore this chapter, I guess. Not the words, everything is the way It's supposed to be, but It was all written funny. I refuse to right this chapter again, though. Oh well. **_

_**Memo to self: STOP GETTING HIT OVER THE HEAD! NOT good for creativity! Bad!**_

_**Please read and review, okay?**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: I do not nor will i ever own Harry Potter. He is J.K.Rowling's and Warner Bros., forever and always, i'm just having fun.**_

………_**.I can't think of anything to say, so I guess I just wont talk, eh? **_

_**Oh! Wait! Um, you'll notice some inconsistencies in the chapters, 'cuz they sound different, depending on what character I get into, you know? That's why Petunia's chapter was all… bad-ified. **_

_**Yeah, umm….. The 'p' button my computer is an ass, so there'll prolly be more spelling mistakes then usual. Sorry. Just thought you oughtta know, k?**_

_**X**_

Stray scowled as he looked at the table, loaded to insane proportions with presents. "You'd think he didn't already have a room full of crap he doesn't need." he muttered, flipping his hair over his shoulders. "Looks like he got the second television he wanted, though. Pig."

Harry nodded in agreement. The Durselys were outside, talking to the over-the-fence neighbors, so Stray was at a level of ease one didn't see often, and he couldn't help but smile. "If it bothers you so much, you make the bacon and I'll try to catch the table on fire with my eyes, okay?"

Stray rolled his eyes. "But it's so much **_fun_**." he whined in mock-misery. "Besides, I think I've almost got it. See that round shaped one? It's darker than it was a minute ago. I think it's charred."

"That one's in the sun, and a cloud just past over it."

"Don't ruin my fun, Harry. Party pooper."

It was Harry's turn to roll his eyes. Finishing up with the bacon, he put it on a plate, setting it on the last small square of space. "Well. That's finished. What now?"

"Uh…" Stray thought for a moment, before his head snapped too the door. "Here they come." he murmured, backing away so quickly he hit the wall. Harry sighed, though by this time he was used to his twin's reactions.

The Durselys came in, managing to make the large room downright claustrophobic, talking loudly and just being downright too big. Dudley was throwing a fit over the number of presents, while Petunia and Vernon tried to placate him. Honestly, 37 presents and he wanted **_more_**? Stray and Harry hadn't received a gift in their life, how could the fat louse not see how horribly over-treated he was!

The phone beside Stray rang, and Petunia walked over to answer it. The long-haired child scurried away and to Harry's side, avoiding Aunt Petunia like they were opposite magnetic fields. The green-eyed boy watched his cousin tear through his gifts at a rapid speed, longing in his eyes, whilst the grey-eyed one kept his full attention on Petunia.

A few minutes later, Stray tugged Harry's sleeve. "Mrs. Figg broke her leg." he whispered, keeping his voice low. "We might get to stay home this time!"

Harry's eyes widened, and his gaze snapped to the skinny blonde woman.

"Bad news, Vernon." she said, wringing her hands. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take **_them_**." she jerked her head to the smallest members of the house.

Dudley's mouth dropped open in horror, causing Harry and Stray to wince. Half chewed, slobbery toast was less then fun to clean up off of the kitchen floor.

"We could phone Marge." suggested Vernon. Ooh, fun. The only person in the world more obnoxious than Dudley. Joy.

"Don't be silly Vernon, she hates the brats!"

"What about what's-her-name, your friend ---- Yvonne?"

"On vacation in Majorca."

"You could leave us here." suggested Harry timidly. He knew not to sound to hopeful, or else they'd never allow it.

Petunia looked positively revolted by the idea. "And come home to find the house in ruins?"

"We could do chores until you come back." murmured Stray.

Petunia ignore him. "We could take them to the zoo… and lock them up in the car."

"Illegal." muttered Stray.

"That car's brand new, they aren't sitting in it alone!"

Dudley started balling big, fat, fake tears.

"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry! Mummy wont let them spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around his fat girth.

"I.. don't… want… them…t-t-to come!" he wailed between huge pretend sobs. He wasn't even a good actor, for crying out loud! "They always sp-spoil everything!"

The doorbell rang and Rat-Face came in, not even waiting for it to be opened. Like he lived there or something, the prick. Dudley stopped crying at once, and the two chums adjourned to Dudley's room to play video games.

Finally it was decided that they would have to go with them, as there was nothing else that could be done. They drove without incident to the zoo, Harry and Stray silent, communicating only with their eyes ('we have to be careful' 'this should be fun' 'god's Dudley is stupid'), Vernon yelling at random people with the windows rolled up ("DAMNED HOODLUMS AND THEIR MOTORCYLES!"), and Petunia shooting commenting snidely to Stray about the red-light district girls ("You'll be one of them soon enough, I expect, and get all your business from Boy. Filthy freaks").

They finally reached the zoo. It was a slightly crowded Saturday, but it had a nonetheless pleasant atmosphere. Dudley and Piers got chocolate ice-creams at the entrance, and Harry and Stray shared a cheap lemon pop. The Durselys only got it for them because they didn't want the ice-cream lady to notice them lacking, but it probably would have worked better had they said they hated sweets. Or, better yet, bought two. They didn't really care, though. It was good.

And besides, they got to have Dudley's knickerbockers-glory at the zoo restaurant. He threw a fit when it didn't have a high enough fat-content, so it went to the wolves. They were happy little wolves though, sporting identical smiles behind their spoons.

Afterwards, they all trudged over to the birds. Or rather, most of them did. Stray and Harry had to wait outside, because the second they stepped in all the feathered rodents went crazy.

Stray sighed, putting up a hand to shadow his face. "Harry…?" he asked after a few minutes of relative silence.

"Yeah?"

"Today's been… nice."

"Yes, it has."

"I don't trust it."

"I know. Me neither."

They sighed as one. They may have started to look less and less like each other, but their minds were closer then they ever had been. With only a few exceptions, they were usually thinking along the same lines, or at least had the same opinions.

Soon the family plus one was in the Reptile House. The animals paid no notice to the twins entrances, and thus they were left mostly to their own devices.

"I love snakes." murmured Harry, walking sideways as he perused the many sleeping or lazing animals. "They're fascinating, don't you think, Stray?"

"I guess." he said, following behind his brother. "They're beautiful, yes. They'd probably look better with legs, though."

"The lizards are over there."

"I wasn't talking about lizards."

"Snakes with legs equal lizards."

"I'll save you the shame of losing and just end this argument now, alright Harry?"

Smiling, Harry moved in front of a huge Reticulated Python that Dudley had recently left. He was roughly 15-20 feet long with green and dark-green scales. He was lazing around a few rocks, watching them with disinterest. "Look, Stray! Isn't he beautiful?"

"He?"

"Yes. He. I can tell."

They fell into silence for a while, simply watching the magnificent creature, before Stray turned his cool grey eyes on him. "Talk to it."

"Huh?"

"You talk like a snake in your sleep. All the time. You hiss when Dudley chases us sometimes. I think you can talk to them."

"That's stupid."

"Come on!" he pleaded, putting his hands together, giving him his cutest look. "Just this once? For me?"

Harry rolled his eyes, looking to the snake out of the corner of his eye. "Must really stink being stuck in there all the time, huh? Gotta deal with whack-jobs like him all the time?"

The snake, amazingly enough, seemed to snicker, sliding up to the glass and looking him in the eye.

Stray smirked. "Told ya. Those hissing noises were cool, though... Hey, it's looking at me funny. You weren't talking about me, were you?"

"Of course not!" Harry laughed. "Was I really hissing?"

"Would I lie?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Right." Stray looked at the snake, who was watching their exchange with oddly intelligent awareness. "Well you did. And you'd best keep talking to him, too. It's rude to just leave off."

Harry nodded, looking back at the Python, feeling more than a tad stupid. "Hi there…. I'm Harry. What's your name?"

"Ssssalazar." the snake hissed slowly. It was muffled by the glass, and heavily accented, but there was no doubt in Harry's mind that he had spoken. "Who issss your companion? Your mate?"

"Mate? What iss a mate?"

"The one you are with forever." Salazar said, tongue flicking out slightly. "You have a nesst together, raissse your eggssss…. That ssort of thing."

"Oh… Oh! Umm, no, we aren't matess." blushed Harry. The giant snake thought that he and Stray were married! "Where would you get any idea like that, Sssalazer?"

The snake flicked it's head, the equivalent of a shrug. "Jusst curious. You are both old enough, I'd wager, and you sssstay ssso clossse. It made sssense."

Harry smiled weakly. "That is Ssstray. He issss my brother."

"Isss he not a ssnake sspeaker alssso?"

"No, I don't think ssso."

Salazar moved sideways, coming eye-to-eye with Stray through the glass. "Hello? Human girl/boy? Do you underssstand me?" he said as clear as he could. Stray didn't respond, just cocked his head slightly to the side. "If you were a ssnake I would make many eggssss with you. I would tie you in a knot and you wouldn't be able to wiggle your way out until the nexxxt mating ssseassson…. Ssstill nothing? Very well." he turned his head back to Harry, who was practically choking on suppressed laughter. "Your nesst-mate isss not a ssspeaker. If he were he would have been insssane to ssstay quiet. I am quite tempting, after all."

Harry tried to respond, only managing to snort into his hand.

"Are you alright, Ssspeaker-Harry?"

"That… wasss hilarious!" Harry cackled breathlessly, practically falling over. It was a miracle that they hadn't yet attracted anyone's attention.

"What wasss?" asked Salazar curiously, though there was slight mischief in his tone. "I wasss quite ssserioussse. Your Sstray would make a gorgeous sssserpant! Why, if he had ssscales I would be wrapped around him like a Ball Python in the middle of a ssstampede!

Stray looked between Harry and Salazar. "Okay. Now I **_know _**you're talking about me. What'd he say?"

Harry looked up to tell him, but the mere sight of him sent the poor child into hysterics.

Meanwhile, Dudley and Piers had grown bored of looking at all the sleepy reptiles. They looked towards the muffled laughter, seeing a rather put-out Stray, and a hysterical Harry. They only spent a moment being curious, before they spotted the swaying snake. "WOW! LOOK WHAT IT'S DOING!" shouted the single dumbest kid at Franklin Primary.

Wasting no time, the pig and rat look-alikes ran over, shoving Harry roughly into his brother, causing them both to sprawl out on the floor. They glared daggers at the fat blonde's head, until suddenly, with no real explanation, it disappeared. Before they even got the chance to wonder why the hell Dudley was in the tank and Salazar was on the floor, everyone was screaming and Salazar was brushing against Stray and Harry on his way out the door.

"It was wonderful chatting with you!" Salazar called back as he hurried round a corner, his tail smashing open dozens of other tanks on it's way out. "I'll be sure to look you two up sometime! _Arrivederci!"_

After that, roughly a zillion other snakes made their escapes. The larger ones smashing open tanks on their way out and the smaller ones simply heading for the hills. The Durselys had grabbed Dudley and Piers and ran for it, as had most parents done for their kids. A few teenagers had tried to get to Stray and Harry(not that they were in any danger. Every single snake said 'thank you' on it's way out) but had given up when a Boa Constrictor moved it's 10-foot girth between them as it left.

Needless to say, Harry and Stray simply walked out a few minutes later. The zoo was shut down for a week and many people were called. Afterwards Dudley and Peirs were checked for trauma, and the twins checked for bites. When they were all announced as 'perfectly fine' the Dursely's bustled them into the car to go home.

Unfortunatly, Harry and Stray's abnormally good day was brought to an abrupt halt when Piers calmed down enough to look at them and say "You two were talking to that snake though. Weren't you?"

Vernon and Petunia waited until Piers was dropped off at the Polkas house, and Dudley was in his room before rounding on the small underweight children under his care. He sputtered slightly, so angry he couldn't speak, before settling with grabbing Harry roughly by the back of his neck, and Stray by his hair. He threw them so hard into their cupboard that their heads were reeling before managing to hiss out "Stay--- in cupboard---- no meals--- no leaving" before slamming it closed and collapsing onto the living room sofa, intent on drinking himself into a stuper before the end of the hour.

X

_**not a word. I made it up. **_

_** good-bye in Italian**_

**_Chapter 5 is done. It took my about three days excavation in my room to find my old _**Sorcerers Stone **_book to make sure it followed the events right. I dunno why I kept thinking Mrs. Norris was attacked in #1. I had a lot facts screwed up, so I ended up having to read the book all over again. Sorry it took so long. I had to go meet my boyfriend's family for the weekend, and they already had this _**thing**_ about me. Oh well. They sucked royally, but it was fun being a total jack-ass behind their backs. Dating the Black sheep end of the gene-pool is fun, no? Ah well. Please read and review, it took forever for me get the stuff to write this _**

_**I HATE SNAKES! EW!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**For some reason everyone is annoyed about the snake thing. I dunno why. They chased me more than once when I was little, they scare me, I hate being around them. Deal with it. (glare pout glare) **_

_**I wrote all of this chapter just this morning, so I'm tired. Please review it? Please?**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., and a number of other people, none of them me. Deal with it.**_

X

The punishment for the Python Incident was by far the longest that Harry and Stray had ever endured. By the time they were released from their cupboard for anything other than using the loo or the shower, the summer hols were already underway and half of Dudley's gifts had broken and/or used for devious purposes.

Unlike most children, such new s did not fall on grateful ears. Summer meant no school lunch, no teachers to watch out for them, and no alternative activities for big, stupid bullies. Though the twins were very quick under normal circumstances, the summer had a way of slowing them down in their attempts to escape the other boys. It wasn't because of the lazy summer stupor that most children fall victim to. No, it was ridiculously increased workloads and lack of sustenance that ailed them.

But for once in their lives, the boys had something to look foreword to. Come September, they would be going to a secondary school all their own. Dudley, along with all his friends, would be off to Smelting, Vernon's old school, but Stray and Harry were going to St. Brutus'.

Most children would be horrified to learn that they were to go to St. Brutus'. It's whole title was St. Brutus' School _for_ Incurably Criminal Boys. As one can imagine, it wasn't exactly a honor to be there. In fact, more than a few people had been shocked to hear that the two tiny boys would even be considered. But, then again, everyone had heard the rumors about them (courtesy of Petunia and Vernon) about how horrible they were behind closed doors and the lies that they told. But if the Durselys, upstanding family they were, felt that St. Brutus' was needed, who were they to object? No need to cause trouble when it wasn't needed after all.

"They stuff people's heads into toilets every day at St. Brutus'." Dudley, who found the situation very funny, had told them. "Wanna go practice?"

"No thanks!" Stray had chirped.

"I can't imagine the poor toilet's ever had something as horrible as your head down it." Harry had elaborated.

"Yeah, it might get sick." with that the twins had run off, long before Dudley could figure out that he had been insulted.

One day in July Petunia brought Dudley to London to get his Smelting uniform, and Harry and Stray were left with Mrs. Figg. Stray was immediately pinned to the couch by two of her biggest cats (Santa Paws and Demon) and Harry put the TV on. The three of them watched a cooking show together for a long while, Mrs. Figg going on about how cute they were and how handsome the host was at irregular intervals the whole time.

That evening Dudley paraded around the house in his new uniform, a maroon and puke-orange ensemble with a straw hat and a stick to hit other students with. Vernon swelled with pride and Petunia broke down in tears of joy, whilst Harry and Stray excused themselves into their cupboard early, not trusting themselves to stifle their laughter under the circumstances.

X

The next morning was one of the worst Stray could remember. He had woken with his head on Harry's stomach as usual (he really did make for a great pillow) but had immediately been assaulted by the worst smell he had ever experienced. He sat up quickly, gagging, before giving Harry a rough shove.

"What?" mumbled Harry, giving him an annoyed glare.

"You, ya skunk!" he choked out, bringing the collar of Dudley's old shirt up over his nose.

"What're you-- oh!" Harry exclaimed in disgust, copying Stray's actions. "That was **_not _**me!"

After they'd managed to stop bickering, they pushed open the door and followed the stench to a huge pot on the counter. Swimming in a murky off-white liquid were dirty looking scraps of cloth. They wrinkled their noses, thoroughly disgusted, before turning to Petunia who had just walked in. Stray moved behind Harry, and Harry looked pointedly at the pot.

Petunia glared at them, before smiling sickeningly. "Do you know what that is, Boy? Freak?"

They both shook their heads.

"That is your new uniform. I'm dyed it white so it'll look just like everyone else's. You should be grateful."

Neither of them were of course. It was **_disgusting _**looking and Stray was starting to get woozy. Giving her their thanks, they quickly started about making breakfast, switching setting the table and minding the food between each other as they went.

Vernon lumbered down the steps just as they finished setting the food, glaring at them until they moved to the corner to await their families bidding. They didn't have to wait long. Not even a minute later they were ordered upstairs to wake up Dudley.

They walked quickly and silently out of the kitchen and to the steps. Barely even pausing they each grabbed half of the mail on the way, flipping through vaguely. "Aunt Marge." mumbled Harry, wrinkling his nose. "Everything else's junk or bills."

Stray blinked down at his pile, coming to a complete stop outside of Dudley's room. "Look. We got letters."

"Both of us?" said Harry incredulously, leaning over to get a better look. Stray was holding two envelopes made of unusually thick paper with curvy green ink lettering. "Why would we get mail?"

Mr. H. J. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Mr. S. C. V. Evans

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drove

Little Whinging

Surrey

"Why do I have more letters in mine?" asked Stray, confused. (they had given up on trying to figure out why their last names were different a long time ago. They figured that they must have different dads or something).

Harry shrugged, taking his letter and looking it over. "Maybe you've got 2 middle names."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Why do I have one?"

"You've got a point I guess. Should we open them?"

"Well, it's addressed to us, so, I guess so."

They both hooked their fingers into the edges of the flap. "On three?" asked Stray, moving so that his rather long nail was in a position to cut through.

"K…. One…. Two… Thr--"

Just as he was about to finish Dudley's door flew open and he barreled through, knocking them both over. Stray squeaked indignantly as Dudley landed on top of him, while and Harry grunted as his head hit the wall. Before either of them got their bearings back, Dudley had grabbed their letters and was running down the hallway.

Stray and Harry, although shocked by Dudley's unusual display of energy, shook off their surprise and chased after him. By the time they caught up Dudley was already in the kitchen, waving their letters around. "They got something! They got something! They stole it, Dad!"

"They're **_our _**letters!" protested Harry, clenching his fists, noting vaguely that he was still holding the rest of the mail. Stray placed a hand on his elbow to placate him, but he ignored it. "They've got our names on them!"

Vernon snorted and Petunia smirked. "Who'd be writing to **_you_**!" taking the letter from Dudley, who smirked triumphantly, Vernon opened it and shook open the papers inside. His beady eyes widened and his face started changing from red, to green, to white. "P-P-Petunia!"

Petunia took it curiously, but promptly started choking on the egg in her mouth. When she managed fto swallow she looked at her husband with something akin to terror. "Oh my goodness! Vernon!"

Dudley gave his father a sharp poke in the side. "I wanna read it!" he whined.

"**_We _**want to read them!" growled Harry, advancing foreward. "Seeing as they're **_ours_**!"

"Get out, all of you." hissed Vernon.

"GIMME THE LETTERS!" yelled Dudley, not seeing the danger. Stray and Harry knew though, and had already started to back away. The only time that Vernon used that tone was when he was particularly upset. The last time they heard it was when Aunt Marge's dog had a seizer while trying to attack them.

****"OUT!" roared Vernon, taking Dudley by the scruff of his neck and throwing him into the hall, giving Harry and Stray a kick towards the cupboard, before slamming and locking the hallway door. With only a moments pause, Dudley pressed his ear to the keyhole and Harry lay down to listen at the crack under the door. Stray knelt down about half way between the two, not needing to any more since he could already hear the adults pretty well.

"Vernon…. Look at the addresses. How could they possibly know where they sleep? Do you think their watching the house?"

"No, no, no. They can't be. If they were, we'd be….." he said desperately, starting to mumble incoherently.

"What should we do? Do we write back! Tell them we don't want them--!"

"No!" exclaimed Vernon, and they could hear him pacing around the kitchen. "We…. We… We'll ignore it. Yes, yes that's best. If they don't get a reply then…. Yes, we'll ignore it."

"But--!"

"No, Petunia! I wont have any of **_those people _**in my house! We swore when we took them in that we'd stamp it out of 'em, and by God we'll do it!"

X

That evening when he came home from Grunnings Drill company, Vernon did something he never did. He visited Harry and Stray in their cupboard.

Needless to say, the twins were more than surprised. Stray, who had been using Harry as a pillow again, was too shocked to even move. After a moment Harry found his voice. "Where are our letters?" he said in a voice that was a lot less forceful than it had been that morning. "Who's writing to us?"

"No one." said their uncle gruffly. "It wasn't yours. I've burned it."

"It had our cupboard on!" whispered Stray angrily, sitting up and glaring at the huge man. "It **_wasn't _**a mistake!"

"SHUT UP!" Vernon yelled so loudly that spiders fell from the ceiling. Completely cowed, Stray scrambled backwards, holding Harry's arm tightly. The man breathed harshly for a minute before forcing a rather painful looking smile to his face. "E, yes… About this cupboard. You're Aunt and I have been thinking….. It's getting rather small for the two of you….. We thought that it might be best if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."

"Why?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"Don't ask questions!" Vernon snapped, false-good-mood vanishing instantly. "Take this stuff upstairs now!"

It took one trip for the two boys to move everything. They sat down on the twin bed, looking around. The room was filled with what seemed to be every toy Dudley had ever broken, which was pretty much every one he's ever owned. From his first TV, which he'd put his foot through, to the bent rifle he'd traded for his parrot. Everything was here. Stray stood, tripping over the parrot's cage as he moved to look at the bookshelf, and the only things that didn't appear to ever have been touched.

They both smirked slightly when they heard Dudley balling downstairs about the loss of his room, but the same thing was going through their minds. They'd be happier in their cupboards with just one of the letters, then up here with neither.

X

The next morning was very odd. Harry and Stray were aloud to sit at the table, even given a single piece of bacon each and a crumpet to share. Dudley was in shock because despite having thrown the biggest tantrum of his life he hadn't gotten his room back. Vernon and Petunia kept throwing each other dark looks over their food, communicating with their eyes. Stray and Harry easily picked up on the conversation, having been doing such things for years.

'Can't believe their at the table, infect Dudley with their freakishness'

'Don't worry, wont let them, just ignore them'

'I don't want them here!'

'It'd for the best'

When the mail came Vernon actually made Dudley get it. Dudley pouted and whined and hit his Smelting Stick against the walls the whole way, but then suddenly yelled "Mum, Dad! There's more! It says the smallest bedroom!"

Vernon dashed to the door, Harry at his heals. He tried to wrestle Dudley for the letters, while ignoring Harry's angry shouts, until finally he stood with them clenched in his fists. He glared at Harry and Stray (who had watched the rather confusing fight from the kitchen) and pointed to the steps. "Go to your cupboard-- I mean room--- now. Dudley----just----go."

X

Harry paced around his new room, thinking hard. "Someone knows that we moved." he said at length, looking at his brother who was perched on the desk, watching him.

"Not to mention the fact that we didn't get the first letter." Stray said, pulling leg up and crossing it over his knee. "That means that their watching the house. Us specifically."

Harry nodded. "But why?"

Stray shrugged. "I don't know. I heard all the same stuff as you, remember?"

Harry suddenly perked up. "I know! Let's sneak out tomorrow. We'll wait at the corner for the postman, and get the letter before he gets here!"

Stray shook his head. "No. He wont believe that your from this house. He's gotta wait till he gets here, otherwise people could steal it. That's why it goes through the door in the first place."

Harry sighed, plopping down on the bed. "That sucks. How do we get the letters than?"

Stray leaned sideways from his perch, brushing away Harry's hair so he could look him straight in the eyes. "Look Harry. They've tried two days in a row. I don't care what Uncle Vernon says, their not going to just give up. Vernon isn't the brightest, he'll slip up eventually. We just have to wait, okay? Be patient."

Harry scowled. "I hate being bloody patient."

Stray flicked him on the forehead, drawing back and looking out the window at the backyard. "We'll get the letters soon. I promise, okay?"

"How do you know?"

"'Cuz I'm your big brother, remember? Trust me, I know everything."

Harry rolled his eyes but decided to trust him. There wasn't much else he could do, after all.

X

The next morning Harry and Stray were greeted by the sight of Vernon sitting in a sleeping bag in front of the door, 6 letters in his lap. He glared at them and ordered the to prepare some tea. Needless to say Harry was more than grateful that Stray had stopped him. Getting beat for stepping on his Uncle's face did **_not _**sound like a good way t spend his morning.

When they came back, Vernon was already in the process of tearing them to pieces, an insane glint in his eyes.

Vernon didn't go to work that day. He went to the hardware store and then boarded up the mail slot. "If they can't deliver them…." he grunted between strikes with the hammer. "….then they'll give up!"

Harry looked at Stray worriedly when the final nail went in, but Stray's face was completely blank. He really hoped that his uncle's claims weren't true.

X

On Friday no less then 24 letters arrived for the twins. They had been forced into the house through sides of the door, under the backdoor, and even through a window that had accidentally been left cracked open.

Vernon stayed home again. He boarded up both doors and hummed "Heigh Ho" from Snow White, and jumped every time Stray or Harry looked at him.

X

By Saturday, the last three mornings seemed like a cool breeze. Nearly **_fifty_** letters came from the confused milkman as he handed Petunia two cartons of eggs through the window. Vernon called everyone from the dairy company to the post office to try and find someone to yell at. Petunia shredded the letters in the food processor and Dudley looked at them in shock.

Vernon out the scraps of their letter in the fireplace, ruining Stray's half-formed plan of putting the pieces together in their room. He smirked evilly at him as he did so, and Stray got the feeling that if this didn't stop soon then the two of them were in **_big _**trouble.

X

The next day Vernon was looking very smug. He poured himself a brandy and sat back in his chair, looking at his family happily. "Today," he started gleefully, setting down his drink, "Sunday that is, is the best day of the week! My favorite day, Sunday." he grinned over at Stray and Harry, who were slowly chewing through their meager breakfast. "You, Freak, do you know **_why _**I love Sunday?"

Stray glanced up. "Because there's no mail on Sunday." he said impassively.

Vernon nodded eagerly. "Yes, exactly! No mail, not a single bloody piece of---!" he was cut off as a letter appeared out of seemingly nowhere, hitting him on the head.

For a moment, the entire room froze. The twin's eyes immediately flew to the letter, which had plopped onto the table.

Mr. and Mrs. Dursely

Master Bedroom

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

"V-Vernon!" gasped Petunia, hand on her throat. "It-it-it's addressed to us!"

The appearance of the letter seemed to shock Vernon so badly that he actually forgot that the Dudley and Harry were there. He slowly opened it with shaking hands, holding the single piece of parchment before his face.

"Dear. Mr. and Mrs. Dursely….." he read, face turning from white, to red, to purple. "We have reason to believe that young Mr. Potter and Mr. Evans' letters have not reached them. To rectify this mistake we are going to send representatives of our school to insure that they do receive them. These representatives will give the boys their letters and will then escort them to Diagon alley. Please be ready at precisely 12:57 today for their arrival. Yours sincerely, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster."

Vernon turned to Petunia, who looked ready to faint. "P-Petunia…..?"

His voice seemed to bring her back to earth. Her nostrils flared and her eyes widened. "I WILL NOT HAVETHOSE FREAKS IN MY HOME VERNON!"

"Who? What's going on?" yelled Dudley, hitting the table with his fork and spoon angrily. "I wanna know! Tell me now!"

Petunia glared at him angrily. "This is none of your difference! Go to your room!" Dudley stomped out of the room angrily, hitting the walls and cursing all the way. Harry and Stray made to follow, but Petunia grabbed them by the shoulders. "Not you two." she hissed, digging in her nails. "You'll be staying **_right _**here."

"What's going on?" asked Harry, taking Stray's shaking hand. "Who keeps writing? Why are people coming?"

Vernon looked like he was going to start yelling again, but Petunia stopped him with a glare. "No. We've no choice Vernon. They'll tell them when they come and then where will we be?"

"I'M NOT LETTING THEM GO TO SOME FREAK SCHOOL TO BE TAUGHT MAGIC TRICKS BY SOME OLD CRACKPOT!" Vernon roared.

Petunia didn't seem at all intimidated, instead steering them into the living room. "It's too late for that Vernon. They're coming now, and we'll just have to convince them otherwise. It wont do for the brats to find out in front of the **_freaks, _**will it!"

Vernon seethed for a minute, before finally stomping into the room, glaring. "Fine!"

Stray and Harry were pushed onto the floor in front of the fireplace, and Petunia and Vernon glared down at them, starting to pace. "First of all…" said their aunt, lips tight against her teeth. "Your Lily and James weren't killed in a car crash."

Harry and Stray's eye widened. They weren't? That was the only concrete fact they'd ever gotten on their parents, and it wasn't true? "Huh? Then what happened?"

"They were killed by some freak of a man. "she hissed harshly. It was obvious that she was angry that she had to explain anything to them, but didn't seem to be overly bothered about her sister and brother-in-law's death. "I don't know his name, before you ask. He hated normal people and wanted to kill them all. My **_sister_**,"****she said the word like a curse "went against him and he killed both of them. He went to kill you two, but for whatever reason it killed him and gave you that disgusting scar, Boy."

Harry's hand went up to touch his forehead, and Stray looked at him worriedly, like he wanted to check him over for himself. "But…." Harry asked. "If he didn't like normal people…. What was he? And our parents?"

She sneered in disgust. "Freaks, just like you two. That's what they were. **_Wizards_**."

Stray scooted back unconsciously, closer the fireplace. "But you said…. You said Magic wasn't real. Said it was rubbish."

Vernon's short string finally snapped and he stood, towering over them. "IT IS RUBBISHB YOU DAMNED IDIOT!"

Petunia grabbed his arm, holding him back. "Vernon! If you hit them they'll know! Sit down, damn it!"

Vernon snarled, but after one look at her eyes backed down.

Petunia looked back at the shaking boys on the floor. "You're wizards too. So are the people who are coming. They want to take you two away to a school for freaks to learn… **_magic._**"

"Will we go?" asked Harry, not daring to hope but unable to stop himself.

Petunia got a look like she had bitten into a lemon, before she nodded stiffly. "Yes. But only because we don't have much of a choice. They're already coming and there's no stopping them."

"Why didn't you tell us we were wizards?"

"And have you running around, turning teacups into rats and such nonsense? I think not! We meant to stamp it out of you, make you **_normal_**, you should be grateful!" she stopped, gasping for breath, before finally putting herself back together. "It doesn't matter now. You'll go to that school, but you will **_not _**bring that rubbish home with you, do you understand?"

They both nodded, not believing their luck. They'd really go? This was almost too easy! What was the catch?

"And don't you go telling those freaks about us!" snarled Vernon.

Stray and Harry nodded. They had no intentions of talking about their home lives anyways. They would keep it quiet as long as they could.

X

By 12:50, the air itself seemed to be tense with nervousness. Vernon was in the living room, pacing nervously, Petunia was cleaning the countertops in the kitchen, hands shaking. For their part, Stray and Harry were on the top step, watching the door. They had been ordered the minute that the talk ended to take down all of the wood from the doors and nails from the window, and then to clean the house as best they could. For once Petunia helped, barking out orders every few minutes.

Harry held up the watch that they'd found and repaired in their new room. "12:56." he murmured. "One minute to go and they'll be here."

"Think they'll be a girl or boy?"

"Who knows. Hope they're nice, though."

"30 seconds."

"They probably wont be **_exactly _**on time Stray."

"25 seconds."

Harry rolled his eyes but started counting down as well, just for something to do. "20..."

"15.…."

"10.…"

"5.………"

"0."

**_knock knock knock_**

_**X**_

_**That's all I'm writing for now. My head hurts, and I made myself dizzy from writing such a long time. You'll just have to wait a while to hear the rest. ( : P ) Please read and review, K?**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Sorry I didn't update for so long, but it took me friggen forever to decide who was at the damned door! I guess you wanna know, though, don'tcha? Well, if so, I guess I'll shut up and let you read, huh? Kk, on with chapter……whatever!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to J. K. Rowling, Warner Bros., and a number of other people who aren't me. **_

X

Severus Snape was having an odd sort of week. Firstly his best friend and lover Lucius Malfoy had managed to get a job teaching at Hogwarts. Needless to say, **_not _**a thing you would expect him to do. Sure, he had that position on the Hogwarts Board of Governors, but he didn't actually have to **_do _**anything. Had anyone told him a month ago, even, that Luc would be taking over for Flitwick in Charms, he would have carted them off to St. Mungo's himself.

If this bit of news wasn't startling enough, he had to find out not a day later that The Potter Brat and Stray were not receiving their Hogwarts letters. No one was sure why, and after a few days failed attempts, it was decided that they would have to send somebody. Hagrid was the first choice, seeing as he wanted to visit Harry so, but he had recently had a bad run-in with a ghoul in the Forbidden Forest, and wouldn't be up to the task for about another week. Minerva was next in line but she had already made plans to visit her granddaughter and her new baby, which she had yet to see since the labor.

This, of course, left Lucius and Severus. Albus had quite a time trying to choose between them apparently. Severus was a bit less uppity then Lucius, but he was not the nicest of guys. Lucius had experience with children (they didn't count Severus' potions class. He scared them in there, nothing more really), and could be gracious when he felt like it, but then again the 'gracious mood' didn't strike him often. Also, he hadn't been a regular visitor to Hogwarts (at least beyond the dungeons) in many years, and wouldn't know as much as Severus.

The headmaster eventually brought it up to them face to face, asking them who they felt would be the best choice to go. The two men didn't even have to think about it before answering. They would go together, of course. Severus would be the wisdom, Lucius would be the words. They'd take the children to Diagon Alley, where they would meet up with Draco, and the 5 of them would get the school shopping done all at once. Afterwards, they'd give Narcissa a full blow-by-blow of the encounter, and that would be that. Simple as pie.

Of course, things rarely went that smoothly for Severus, but a man could hope, couldn't he?

X

Severus watched indifferently as Lucius ransacked his own wardrobe. He was actually **_inside _**the large, semi-portable, dimension-defying closet, tossing out robe after suit after god-knows-what-else! The slightly bemused Potions Master stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding being struck in the face with a bath robe. "Lucius…." he said in a low, warning tone. Which, as he had half-expected, was completely ignored.

"Nope! No! No! Nonono….." came his lovers semi-sing-song voice. "That's too drab, that is for a dance, I do not the pleats in those pants…."

"Let me make this easier on you." drawled Severus, watching the discarded items of clothing re-fold and un-wrinkle themselves. "We are going to a Muggle neighborhood and then to Diagon Alley. Dress as such. Wear a blue robe and transfigure it into a suit while we're at the Durselys. Fair enough?"

"Oh very well!" huffed Lucius, stepping out with a sapphire colored robe adorned with silver trimmings and the like. He put it on quickly, fully aware of Severus' gaze, before quickly transfiguring it into a suit. It still had the silver around the edges, but it was much more Muggle looking. "How is that?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "It's fine." he said, standing up. He quickly changed his robe into a black dress shirt and slacks, glaring at Lucius. "Can we go now?"

Lucius raised an eyebrow, before holding out a Hair Tie. Snarling slightly, Severus snatched it, tying his shoulder-length hair back, before striding angrily to the door. "Lucius!" he snapped when he saw the blonde man checking himself over in the full-length mirror.

Lucius chuckled. "Fine, fine. I'll stop teasing you." he said walking past him and into the hall, before turning to the darker man with a look of annoyance. "Severus? Are you coming or not?"

X

About five minutes later, a ticked off brunette and a very smug blonde strode purposefully down Privet Drive. Severus couldn't suppress the sneer that spread over his face at the identical houses, and their useless gardens, but then again he'd never tried to suppress it before. Why start now?

Lucius gave a courteous wave to a pair of playing girls that were roughly 5 years old. They giggled to one another, waving back vigorously. Lucius chuckled slightly and turned to Severus, who was obviously not having as good time. "Really Severus!" he admonished lightly. "At least pretend that you're enjoying yourself. You'll make the Muggles nervous."

Severus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No amount of acting in the world, Lucius. I have seen 3 different women looking at us through their curtains, no doubt trying to stick their noses into our business. Above all else, I hate know-it-alls and nosy people. It is difficult enough being in such an unmistakably **_Muggle _**neighborhood without adding in intrusively inquisitive neighbors."

Lucius sighed long-suffering, as if dealing with Severus was one of the most tiring jobs in the world, never mind the fact that it likely was. "Severus…." he started. "Would it kill you to be a tad less snarky? We are out to see a pair of children- -"

"On my holiday no less!"

"- -who will not take well to having their first impressing of our world in the form of a snarky old git."

Severus looked at Lucius as if he'd grown another head, or even more unlikely, went out in public without combing his hair. "Old Git?" he echoed in stunned disbelief. "I'm 32 for Merlin's sake! I'm four months younger than you!"

Lucius waved it off with a dismissive gesture of his hand. "Yes, yes, but you **_act _**old. I, on the other hand, have a youthful spirit."

Severus stared at Lucius, blinking profusely, but Lucius didn't notice, or else pretended not to. Before the raven haired man could even **_begin _**to come up with a suitable reply, they were walking up the steps to number four.

"Now remember, Severus, these are Muggles. Stray and Harry shall be little more than Muggleborns. Play nice, alright?"

Severus made a neutral noise in the back of his throat, before the blonde raised his cane, giving it the door before him three sharp taps.

X

**_UBER IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!_**

_**Kk, I figured the surest way to have you all read this was to put it in the middle of the chapter, instead of the beginning or end. This is MONDO IMPORTANT!**_

_**I'll have Harry and Stray in Hogwarts soon, and I can't figure out where to place them. Harry'll probably stay a Gryffindor, but Stray is still a mystery to me. One friend says he'd make an adorable Hufflepuff, my boyfriend insists that Slytherin is the way to go.**_

_**I'm relying on you! Even if it's only one word, gimme a review of which house the young Succubus should go! I'd prefer it if you gave a reason too, but even if you just say 'Hufflepuff' or ''Slytherin', I'd really appreciate it! It'll be a fair way to keep people from yelling at me! This is up on 3 sites, so it'll be as fair as possible, okay?**_

_**DO NOT SAY GRYFFINDOR! I KNOW HE'D MAKE AN ADORABLE LITTLE LION, BUT IT MESSESS WITH MY STORY LINE, OKAY! SUMIMASEN!**_

X

It couldn't be certain what Severus and Lucius expected when they agreed to pick the children up from their homes, but it could be said that, without a doubt, their expectations were shattered and thrown to the winds.

Below them stood a pair of black haired children, one with emerald eyes, one with mercury, both nervously excited, but that is where their expectations ended.

Both were quite thin and short for their age. The taller of the two, obviously Harry, had hair that seemed to be trying to escape from his head by any route possible. His skin had a medium tan, and there were pink spots of sunburn on each cheek. He wore scratched round glasses with tape on the bridge, and his lower lip had the unmistakable mark of someone who chewed on them whenever they were nervous.(a/n: I did that a lot when I was little. I've heard that some people think it's cute, but the little marks got on my nerves --; ). His shirt was a faded grey and hung off of one shoulder, and could probably have fit either man easily. His jeans were large and torn at the bottoms, and his toe was sticking out of his right sock.

The smaller, apparently Stray, was practically his polar opposite. His hair was a tad tussled from running to the door, but wavy, and reached his waist, curling gently at the bottom. His skin was lily-white, as if he'd never seen the sun. His eyes had long, feminine lashes and he had perfectly straight, thin white scars running down his cheeks and under his chin, as if he were crying. His clothes were well-worn, a faded pink shirt with loose jeans with flowery patches that reached to his ankles. His long-fingered hands were wrapped tightly around his brother's elbow, as if to ground him.

Lucius cleared his throat, realizing that they were staring. "Harry Potter and Stray Evans, I presume?" he said, smiling gently at them.

Harry nodded. "Err, yes. I'm Harry… Err, come in, please." he said, stepping back, Stray right beside him, eyes never leaving the two men.

Lucius and Severus stepped inside, looking around in either feigned interest or obvious contempt, depending on who you were referring to. Harry led them to the sitting room, where there sat a rather obese man and horse-like thin woman. The woman glowered at them, her stiff posture and set jaw obvious indications of her anger. The man's face was shifting from red to white in rapid concession, but he was making rather weak attempts at smiling.

Lucius, ever the aristocrat, gave him a smug/gracious smirk/smile. (yes, he is capable of mixing all of those together O.o) "Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Dursely." he said, holding out his hands in an 'I'm harmless' gesture. "I am Lucius Malfoy, and this is my associate Severus Snape. We are here to bring young Harry and Stray to Diagon Alley for their school supplies and such. Give them a little introduction to the Wizarding World if you will."

"We know why you're here!" the walrus wanna-be grunted, beady eyes scrutinizing their appearance, obviously **_begging _**for faults to point out.

Severus glared at him through pitch black eyes. "Good. Then that saves us the trouble of explaining ourselves further." he said, his voice laced with the vilest of poisons. He looked pointedly at Harry and Stray. "Put on your shoes. We're leaving now."

"Yessir." the twins said together, hurrying into the hall and to the closet near the door. Severus watched them for a moment, before turning his icy stare back to the adults.

There was a very tense silence, in which the only people in the room that weren't fidgeting were the two wizards. "This school..." growled the man finally, glaring up at them.(He hadn't even bothered to stand for them, feeling that they didn't deserve the respect that that action signified.) "It'll keep them for the whole year?"

Lucius nodded. "If you want. But there are a few holidays that you can have them home on."

The room went quiet again, until the two children came back, Harry in dirty, stained trainers and Stray in a worn pair of flip-flops. "We're ready." Harry said, his elbow once more in Stray's grip.

The wizards nodded and started to the door. Lucius was about to open it, when he froze, looking back at the Muggles who had come to the edge of the living room, presumably to make sure they actually left and didn't go sneaking about their home. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursely." he said. "Surely you wish to say good-bye to your nephews?"

Petunia got a look on her face, as if she were torn between fury and fright. She turned jerkily to the boys, before lowering herself to her knee and holding out her arms. Harry and Stray just kind of stared at her.

"Well?" said their uncle gruffly. "Give your aunt a hug, boys. And don't try any of that 'I'm too old' crap."

Harry stepped foreword first, tugging Stray along behind. Once they were both within reach, she grabbed them and held them tight, the picture of a mother fearing her children leaving the proverbial nest, when in reality she was pressing purposely against their bruised stomachs.

Vernon gave the wizards a wry look. "She mothers them like you wouldn't believe." he said, looking rather annoyed. "I told her not to embarrass them, but…. Well, she didn't listen." he shook his head in exasperation.

Lucius smiled back understandingly. "Sounds like my wife, Narcissa. When he was younger I was always waiting for the day I'd come home to see that our Draco had become permanently attached to the hem of her dress."

Vernon gave him a strained look, turning back as the two boys stepped away from their aunt. "Be good." she said sternly, before making shooing gestures, which the boys quickly took. The four wizards and wizards-in-training stepped through the door and started down the street.

Harry blinked. "Hey, um, did you guys drive here, or…."

"No." Severus snapped. He wasn't trying to be rude, it just came naturally to him during stressful situations. He was torn on how to react to the boys between he and Lucius. Harry was Potter's son, and his spitting image. Potter had tortured him as a child and made him miserable, and had gone as far as to abandon his own child, the boy that was holding Potter's clone by the arm in a death grip. The boy appeared gentle and generally a good child, despite being half-filled with Potter blood. He wasn't pushing away his sibling to try and appear more macho or mature to them, as most every siblings (minus a few, namely the Weasley twins) seemed to feel the need to do.

Stray was an anomaly himself. As the son of an Incubus, he should be taller, stronger, braver, and all-around more evil-seductive-vampire-y than children his age. Or most ages, really. But instead he was small, frail, feminine and appeared shy. Could Lily and Potter have been wrong, and Stray not been the son of the Incubus? No, that wasn't possible. But perhaps the Incubus had been…. Some sort of Veela? No, his hair was too dark. Maybe the first ever dark-haired Veela.

Severus groaned, rubbing his nose. He looked to Lucius who, behind his cheerful face, was obviously working his mind over the strangeness of the encounter himself.

"Umm….. Mi-….Lucius?" asked Stray in a tiny, timid voice.

"Yes Stray?" said Lucius warmly.

"Where… Where exactly are we going?"

'

"To London to get your supplies. Diagon Alley specifically."

"What type of supplies?" asked Harry.

"Just the things you'll need for Hogwarts when it starts up in September." Lucius reached into a pocket, pulling out his wand along with two letters. The boys took them from his hand, looking for confirmation that they could read them, before quickly doing so.

"Owls?" said Harry, looking up at Lucius, who had proved to be the nicer of the adults. "What do they mean by that?"

"Well… Have you ever heard of Carrier Pigeons?" They both nodded. "Well, it's the same basic principal, only owls are much more intelligent and they can find people that have moved, or they haven't ever visited before."

"Wow." said Stray. "Why don't you ever hear about that sort of thing from not-magic people?"

"Muggles don't notice anything." sneered Snape.

"But some people devote their lives to learning about that sort of thing." said Harry. "I don't think someone who spent their entire lives around birds would just overlook something odd about them. Scientists always wanna know **_everything _**about **_everything_**."

Severus glared a little, as if in disbelief that he would dare to question him. "Muggles are foolish, and weak-minded."

Harry gave him a slight glare out of the corner of his eye, leaning into Stray's ear, whispering in a tone that was just loud enough for Severus to hear. "Sounds a bit **_racist _**to me."

"Harry!" Stray hissed.

Lucius kept a straight face, wary of the dark aura the potion's master was probably radiating. This day would go down in history as The Day An Eleven Year Old Boy With No Magical Upbringing Beat Severus Snape In An Argument. Of course, they'd probably need to think up a shorter name, but whatever.

The little group turned into an alleyway, where Severus started to rummage around in his pocket. Stray and Harry stared in astonishment as his arm went nearly elbow-deep into the suit jacket. Their well trained ears easily picked up some confusing noises, what sounded like full wineglasses that were for some reason covered.

As they listened to the strange tinkling of glass, everyone steadfastly tuning out the long stream of curses, Stray suddenly raised his eyebrows, as if something had just occurred to him. "Mr. Snape sir?" he piped, turning his huge silvery eyes to the aforementioned man. Snape grunted to show he was listening, while Lucius shook his head at his companions horrible manners. "Um, by any chance, are you a chemist?"

Lucius blinked, and Severus left the blonde to answer, as he had just gotten the bright idea to add his other hand to the expanding pocket. "As a matter of fact, he is. A potion's master, to be exact." Stray looked over to Harry who was nodding in an 'oh yeah, of course!' sort of way. "How was it you knew, by the way?"

Both boys suddenly started to get shifty eyed and nervous. "Well…."

"Speak your mind, boys. Severus isn't paying attention to us anyways."

They sent the bat-like man (who had by this point cursed whatever he was looking for into the third region of hell, as well as taken a few underhanded strikes at the thing's mother) quick looks from the corners of their eyes. Seeming to decide that he was properly distracted, they both leaned in close, putting their right hands on the side of their mouths so that their lips weren't to be easily read.

Lucius struggled not to smile at their child-like antics, before leaning in close as well.

""Well…"" they whispered as one, in low conspiratorial voices, sending Severus glances every second or so. ""You see how his hair is kinda…. Not so clean looking?""

"Yes, it is rather hard to miss."

""Well, it's real easy to see you guys got clean right before you came, you still have that 'out of the shower' aura. But somehow his hair's still greasy looking.""

Stray held up the forefinger of his right hand. "And the most common way to have Forever Greasy Hair- -"

Harry mimicked the motion with his left. "--Is to work over top of chemicals."

Lucius was very surprised. Most kids weren't all that perceptive, especially 11 year old boys. "You figured that out all by his hair?"

""Well……."" the said, scratching the backs of their necks. ""The clinking glasses helped a lot."'

"Ha!" muttered Severus. They all turned to see Severus smirking down at a Licorice Wand, looking like the cat that ate the canary.

"Find it?" asked Lucius cheerfully, ignoring the peeved look Severus sent his way.

"Shut your overly loose jaw, Lucius." he growled, turning a rather dangerous smile the boys' way. "Grab on."

The boys didn't question it, and simply closed their thin fingers over small portions, me following. It was reassuring to know that Muggles did teach their offspring not to disobey direct orders. Perhaps teaching the whole lot of children come September wouldn't be quite so horrible after all.

Severus muttered something under his breath, before there was a sharp pull behind the four wizards' navels. There was a sharp gasp from one of the boys, before there were thrown into a whirling vortex.

X

When their feet finally hit the ground, one of the brothers (even they weren't sure who) knocked into the other, and they both ended up as a pile of limbs on the floor. Severus and Lucius blinked down at them as they transfigured their suits into robes.

"Are you two okay?" asked Lucius, giving them a bemused smile.

Harry, who had ended up on top, sat up, laughing weakly. "Err, what was that thing?"

"A Portkey. It transports you to different places."

"Oh… where'd it transport us to?"

"The Leaky Cauldron."

Harry looked around, emerald eyes sharp as he scanned the people that were sitting or standing or talking around the dark and dingy bar. "Okay……" he murmured, before his eyes alighted on their escorts' 'new' outfits. He blinked, before giving Stray (who was still lying face up on the floor, Harry atop him their 11 and have no real contact with the outside world. They don't even notice that this'll look really odd when their older)a smug smile. Stray rolled his eyes, reaching into s pocket and pulling out a smooth, shiny black rock, placing it in his brother's palm.

Before either man could question their actions (and before Snape could bark at them to separate like the good little teacher he was) there was a cry from behind them. "Father!"

What looked like a white and green blur flew across the room, attaching itself to Lucius' arm. "Father, can we please go? Some horrid girl keeps morphing her face to look like mine when I'm not looking and making it do weird things, like put on make-up and make weird faces! And there was a man in a turban that smelled like garlic that was here before but left and it was **_awful _**Father! He kept talking about a Veela he knew that could be my sister and vampires that had my eyes and all sorts of things! Let's go! Please?"

To anyone else in the world this would have sounded like two or three words, every once in a while separated by 'Father!' but to boys that had grown up in the same house as Dudley Dursely, the whole thing just sounded like the most believable tall-tale they'd heard yet. (a/n: Dudley's friggen retarded).

"If she did it while you weren't looking, how do you know what she did?" asked Stray, looking up at the blonde carelessly. Now that he had stopped jumping around, Stray and Harry had a fairly decent view of him. Despite his momentary frantic, for it was obviously something that didn't happen often, the boy had the sharp look of an aristocrat, and was obviously a close relative of Lucius. He was almost as pale as Stray, but with slicked-back hair of nearly the same color, and very light blue eyes. He wore a smart looking outfit consisting of a green silk dress shirt and expensive-looking black pants of an unknown material.

The boy took a deep breathe to steady himself. "In the bar, tom had just cleaned of the glasses. She was reflecting in them." he raised a nearly invisible eyebrow, looking the two over. "Um, aren't you two kids a but young for voyeurism?"

Lucius gave the boy a flick on the back of his ear, which cause the natural reaction of an enormous recoil. "Draco, be nice." he said sternly, before looking down at the twins, who had managed to get themselves standing in the few seconds it had took him to warn Draco's occasionally bad disposition away. He saw that Harry was an inch or so smaller than Draco, but Stray's eyes were level with the blonde's mouth. He had a feeling that gap would get much wider over the next handful of years. "Draco, this is Stray Evans and Harry Potter. They will be joining us to shop for school supplies."

Draco cast a critical eye over the two, but bowed his head politely. "Harry Potter? As in The Harry Potter? You're a tad smaller than I thought you'd be."

Harry looked at Stray, who shrugged. "I dunno. I'm the first I've ever met. But if I am the one you're talking about, sorry for disappointing you."

Stray held up his hand slightly. "Um, Draco? Before, were you calling Lucius 'Father'?"

"Yes. He is my father. I'm Draco Malfoy."

A smirk threatened to spread across Stray's scarred face, but was quickly wiped clean. He gave Harry a pointed look, and the taller boy huffed and rolled his eyes, but quickly gave him back the rock.

The young blonde blinked. "What was all that just then?"

"Oh, nothing Draco. Don't worry about it." Stray said easily, letting the rock plop once more into his pocket.

Draco looked like he was about to press on, but Lucius broke in first. "Shall we be going. Severus?"

The dower man grunted noncommittally, but they all walked into the alleyway behind the tavern. The two Muggle Raised boys looked around boredly, before pointing out the alley's lack of an exit. Lucius waved off their words, placing the tip of his wand thrice against the correct brick.

The wall slid and shook showily, slowly giving up the view of the bustling street hidden behind it. Stray and Harry stared at the abnormality of it all, restraining the urge to laugh giddily.

Lucius smiled, holding out his arm towards the cobbled road. "Welcome, children, to Diagon Alley."

X

_**Sorry it took long, like I said. I ran outta ideas for this chapter, and I couldn't just skip it.**_

_**In case you skipped the big one, I need help figuring out Stray's house. (It can't be Gryffindor). I'd appreciate if you'd give me your reasoning behind the choice as well, but a single world'll do as well.**_

_**Review, okay?**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Ooooookay! I think I've gotten enough input to know what the majority wants of Stray's placement. Though, I gotta admit, it's pretty close (sorta wishes this story wasn't on so many sites, but is in euphoria over how many people care enough to give their opinions.) Would you believe I got over 70 reviews if you ad it all together? And only a couple were 1-word answers! (feels loved)**

**It's taken me a long time, because I had to decide how to piece it together the story with that certain house. Of course, you've still got a chapter or two left to vote, in case you haven't yet. **

_**Hey, could someone try drawing Stray? I just wanna know what you all think he looks like. My boyfriend's sister got it all wrong and now I'm self-conciouse. (pouts) Please-ness?**_

X

Stray couldn't believe how ……… abnormal this place was! It was great! Everyone was moving, everything was busy, everything was loud. He smiled over at Harry, who grinned back. They were definitely in agreement. Anything this 'freakish' world could offer them was more then they could ever want in their own.

The adults had taken money from their vault (they had a vault of money at the wizarding bank!), so they were able to get directly to shopping.

Which, to no one but Lucius' delight (what was up with him anyways?) started with robes. They trouped into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, and were greeted by a woman in a mauve, who ushered them all onto stools in the back. To Stray's delight, the woman started chattering on about how having three young boys at a time wasn't uncommon this time of year. Almost no one realized Stray was a boy right off (as if there was really anything about him to deter the notion from strangers' minds) but being a tailor(ette?) probably made body distinctions more obvious to her.

They stood there for a while, silent, but for the noises of cloth being draped and the woman (assumed to be Madam Malkin) chattering away, until the length's of black cloth started to take definable shape. Harry grinned at Stray, who had been busy with the trying task of counting all the hairs that he couldn't push out of his eyes since he was supposed to keep his arms straight out. "Hey Stray, these outfits look familiar to you?"

Stray blinked in confusion, looking down(causing more hair to fall into his eyes). "Um… Not really."

"You **_sure_**?" he sang out.

Stray raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Pretty sure."

Draco, who they had all but forgotten about, smirked. "They look a bit like dresses." he drawled. "Especially on you."

Stray blinked, looking down at the robes again. "Oh. Yeah, I guess they sort of do. Why would you have dresses as a school uniform?"

"Robes are traditional!" chirped Madam Malkin. " But what I think they're getting to, dear, is that you have just the bone structure to make it pretty! You should count yourself lucky to have two such fine boys after your heart!"

There was a moment of silence after the feather-brained woman finished, before Harry's face suddenly turned pink, Stray's red, and Draco's blue from forgetting how to breathe. Madam Malkin gave them concerned looks, but didn't ask questions.

Soon after the group left the shop, Draco considerably less comfortable then he had been to begin with. They went to a small shop, buying parchment, ink, and feathers (which Draco explained were for writing, seeming slightly smug when he realized they hadn't known), and then went on to the apothecary to get numerous and seemingly random things for potion making.

After a good twenty minutes of shop-hopping (a/n: yes I did make that up myself, why do you ask?), the group stopped in front of a small, dusty and worn out looking shop.

"Ollivanders?" read Stray, unconsciously grabbing hold of Harry's elbow. There was something very dark and…. Powerful emanating from the dilapidated shop that made the hair on his neck stand up.

"They sell wands…." mumbled Lucius, rubbing his temples. "Oh…. Severus, could you handle this? I think I'll go to the Leaky Cauldron and get something to settle my stomach…"

Severus scowled, rolling his eyes. "I suppose I could, but that will teach you not to down pepper-up potions like sweets."

"Oh sod of Severus.." he nearly pouted, walking off down the road. Harry sent Draco a confused look, which garnered no reply.

They entered the shabby shop, looking around. It was just as bad as it had looked from outside, but thankfully it wasn't actually falling apart.

At least from what they could see.

Severus placed himself onto the spindly little chair in the corner, looking completely disgusted with his entire situation. "Just one more shop to go." he said quietly to himself, already dreaming of going to bed and forgetting all about the horrible children he would soon need to teach.

Harry shifted in place, looking around. Behind the tattered desk, were 7 rows of who-knows-how-many shelves, all overflowing with thin wooden boxes. He couldn't see the back of the shop, but he had a feeling that was a long way off.

The green-eyed youth jerked violently as a pair of shiny, pale eyes moved right into his line of sight.

Stray turned the second he felt his brother tense, and then froze at the sight of the creepy old man, his body unable to decide if it should duck behind his brother or jump in front of him. All he really knew was this man's glittery eyes reminded him of his aunts', and that scared him more then most anything else could.

"Good afternoon…." said the man in a rattling, poisonous voice. He leered at the children, all three of which were gravitating into a smaller and smaller space. "I must say, I've been rather keen to the idea of servicing you."

Severus arched his eyebrow slightly. "If you wouldn't mind, Ollivanders..." he drawled. "I would like to get out of here as soon as possible. If you might skip the pleasantries?"

Ollivander glared at him, an icy, angry smile on his face. "Ah, Young Mister Snape. 21 years haven't done anything for your attitude, I see."

The broody man simply sneered, sending a look to Draco that clearly said 'do **_not _**let this horrid man beat you!'

Draco took the hint, taking a purposeful step away from the twins, clearing his throat. "So." he said, lifting his pointy chin. "Are you going to get us our wands or not?"

Ollivander glared at him, sending Severus another nasty look. "A relative of yours?"

"I will remind you that you are paid for your services as a wand maker, not a comedian."

After exchanging a few more dirty looks, Ollivander finally got on with his job. He looked the boys over, his shiny eyes sending shivers up all of their backs, before stepping right in front Draco. "Alright, boy, stick out your wand hand."

Draco held up his right hand, and the wand-maker quickly measured it with a length of acid-colored tape. He hummed lightly to himself, before tossing it carelessly over his shoulder. Harry hopped backwards to avoid it, but was surprised as it immediately latched itself around his abdomen. Ollivander just walked over to the shelves, snatching up seemingly random boxes as he walked the length of them, mumbling to himself.

A few minutes later, the creepy man came back with an armful of boxes, brushing past the twins who were whispering to one another anxiously as they struggled to detach the tape. "Let it alone, it's just measuring you up for your wands. It will only make it worse if you try to remove it."

The boys sent him slightly annoyed looks. During the course of their struggles, the tape had let loose for a moment and latched onto Stray's wrist, so there was a decent chance that they realized just what struggling did to help.

Ollivander dropped the boxes onto the counter before handing one to Draco. "Give it a wave, then."

Draco gave it a half-hearted swish, and suddenly found all the buttons on his silk shirt wide open. He eep!ed, dropping the wand like a live coal, and holding the shirt closed again.

Ollivander cackled, grinning evilly. "No, I don't believe that wand is for you."

The blonde flushed, spinning away on his heel and rebuttoning his shirt. "It better not be!"

Ollivander gave him another one. A one can imagine, he seemed quite a bit more hesitant this time around, but after he had a good hold of his shirt, as well as the hem of his pants, he gave the wand a tiny twitch. A strong gust of wind blew Stray's hair around, but other then that, nothing destructive.

"Hm, close." mumbled the wand-maker, going back to the pile of boxes and shoving well over half to the floor. He hummed to himself, before plucking out another one, pushing it into Draco 's hands. "Here. This should do it."

Draco took the wand in just the tip of his fingers, sending it a suspicious look, before giving it a wave. A silvery stream of light trailed out, lighting up the room.

Ollivander smirked, patting Draco on the head (who immediately started patting it back down). "Wood of the Youn tree, hair of a Siren, 10 and a half inches, rather whippy. I think it suits you. Wonderful for charm work."

Draco smirked lightly, running his fingers over it. "Perfect." Without so much as a thank you, he turned and walked to the wall behind Severus, leaning himself against it.

Ollivanders eyes narrowed a little, walking over to the (still stuck) twins. He couldn't help but smirk. "What did I tell you boys about struggling?"

Stray leaned into Harry a little, letting his hair cover his mouth. "That he **_likes _**it." Harry slapped his hand over his own mouth, trying to hide his giggles on the off chance Ollivander hadn't heard.

The wand-maker growled lowly. "I heard that, you know."

"I know."

Stray and Harry were quickly separated, and with many a mumbled curse, Stray was fitted up with an onyx wand, 12 inches, and the feather from a black dove. Nothing in the room was damaged, luckily, but Severus ended up with an uncomfortably bruised bottom.

With Stray done, but still not even a yard away from his brother, Ollivander descended upon Harry. "Ah, young Mister Potter. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Now, hold out you wand hand, please."

Harry held his right hand up, close to his chest. Ollivander, instead of doing the normal thing by taking his hand and pulling it closer, he leaned in very very close, holding Harry's hand lightly.

Stray suddenly found his fear of the man morphing into a deep-rooted hatred. He stepped foreword, stiff-arming the older man. He was given a bewildered look, which he answered with narrowed eyes. "Look, I don't like you. Why don't you just go ahead and do your job before this gets ugly?"

Ollivander stepped back, alarmed. The boy had seemed completely timid and harmless before, but there was a definite aura of danger there now. His flashing eyes made his own seem dull, and the way he smiled strongly reminded him of a lion baring it's fangs. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, forcing a slightly faltering smile to his lips. "Of course, no need to be so impatient, boy."

With a speed that had to have been aided by magic, though no spell was uttered, Ollivander had Harry set with a holly and phoenix feather wand. Stray sent Ollivander dark looks all the while, keeping him fairly quiet.

Harry gave Stray a concerned look, nibbling his lip slightly. "Are you alright, Stray?"

Stray whipped his head around to Harry, his eyes warm and innocent again. He smiled, his grip on Harry's arm becoming less protective and more childish. "Uh-huh." he said, smiling lightly. "Why?"

"You got a little scary there for a second." laughed Harry.

"Did I?" he laughed weakly, threading his fingers into his wavy hair nervously. "I don't know, for some reason I just got really angry with him all of a sudden."

Harry smiled lightly. "You looked pretty cool there. I'd do that more often if I were you."

Stray tried putting on a dark face, but without anger it was more then impossible.

"If you two are done fooling around, we'll be leaving." growled Snape as he paid the still fidgety Ollivander.

They nodded together, and turned to leave.

"Wait, just a moment." said Ollivander from behind the safety of his desk. The twins turned, looking at him with slightly aggravated expressions. "The two of you, are you brothers?"

"Yes." said Harry, before Stray could get the chance to snap at him.

Ollivander leaned foreword on the desk. "Twins then? I thought as much. Twins are quite the thing in the Wizarding World. Some people see them as lucky, others as bad omens, but there is one thing that we all agree with; when twin boys are born, chaos will follow them like a deadly shadow. This is my warning to you both…." he sent Harry a piercing gaze. "…especially the younger. The youngest twin should be wary of the elder."

Stray bared his teeth at the older man, his gaze dark with malice. With his free hand he pushed open the door, wind whipping past them and blowing out the torches that lit the small shop. "Come on, Harry. We're going to lose Draco and Severus."

They both left the shop quickly, the two of them glaring at him as they went, suddenly looking much more alike then they normally did.

Ollivander watched them go through the dingy windows, before standing up and walking over to the torches. "It's been so long since I cast that spell…" he mumbled, taking out his own wand. "I suppose taking for granted that the Infinite Flames charm would never need replacing was asking too much."

X (should I continue? If I do the next chapter will be rather short….. My hand hurts…..)

The twins quickly caught up with their group, neither of which had noticed their absence, outside of a very large bookshop. "Alright." drawled Severus. "I'm leaving you three here on your own. Get your books, you've all got your lists with you, while I go and find Lucius. We'll be back shortly and you had best be finished before we find you."

They entered the crowded shop, and simply stood there for a moment, wondering about where to start.

Draco took the list out of Harry's hands, as his own was in his pocket, looking it over. "Alright, how about this. I'll look for _Standard Book of Spells_, _History of Magic_, and _Magical Theory_. Harry gets _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration_, One _thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_, and _Magical Drafts and Potions_. Stray, you get _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, and _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection_, as that's rather thick. We all get three copies of each, that way we find things faster."

The twins agreed and Draco started to the left, Harry and Stray to the left.

"Oi, idiots!" snapped Draco, after only a few steps. "What are you doing?!"

They turned, blinking innocently. ""What?""

Draco let out his breathe, annoyed beyond measure. "You, Girly, you go through the middle. Bird-Hair, you go to the left."

""Different ways?""

"Yes. Different ways. As in not the same aisle. Now hurry it up!" he turned on his heel, stomping away.

Stray looked up at Harry uneasily. "Um… I guess it would go faster if we split up…."

"Yeah…. I guess it would…"

Though they'd come to an agreement, neither moved away. They simply stood there for a few minutes, until a stout red-headed woman accidentally knocked into them, bumping them apart.

"Whoops! Sorry dears!" she trilled. "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm really in quite tiffy(1) here! So many kids to gather up! Ginny, dear! Where did you run off to!?"

They watched in a slight daze as she waddled off, before looking at each other. They weren't connected anymore.

Clearing his throat slightly, Harry lifted his hand slightly. "I'll just go this way, then, okay? We'll meet up with Draco in a few minutes. See you then, okay?"

"Okay…" whispered Stray. "See you then….."

"….Bye." with that awkward farewell, Harry turned, jogging down the side aisle.

"Bye Harry."

X

_**(starts crying) I don't want to leave it here, but I know that if I don't end the chapter before I get off the computer I wont continue it. I promise to work on the next chapter tonight, it should be up before Christmas, but it wont be too long.**_

**_(1) My mom used to say that. It's like Little Old Lady for 'predicament'_**.


	9. Chapter 9

_**(sighs) I do love reviews. I would totally write more if I got reviews regularly (hint hint). **_

_**As I warned in the last chapter, this one'll be pretty short. I would've attached it to the end of the last one, but it seemed long enough already. (shrugs lazily and starts eating sugar out of a bowl)**_

X

Stray hurried along the aisles, holding his list with a shaky hand. He knew he was being ridiculous, Harry was only a few shelves away. There was no reason for him to get so scared…..

Stray stopped, as he spotted one of the items on the list, and quickly grabbed three, balancing them uncomfortably in his hands. He felt a stab of guilt when he realized that his arms were already getting tired from holding them up. Harry would be able to hold them easy, his arms were strong from working all the time.

Stray felt his eyes tearing up. Harry worked so hard, but Stray had it so easy that he couldn't even lift a few textbooks…

By some miracle, he managed to find the rest of the books, despite the tears clouding his vision. He bent over slightly, unable to keep his spine straight under the weight, but kept up his quick pace down the aisle, hoping to find his other half.

He made a quick turn around a shelf, before knocking into someone else that was apparently doing the same. He hit the ground, the large textbooks crushing the bruises on his belly and causing him to sob instead of cry out.

"Are you okay? Sorry for knocking you over like that!"

He felt a pair of hands grab his wrists, pulling him to his feet. He wanted to say something but all he could do was keep his head down, hiding his watery eyes. He needed Harry. Why couldn't Harry be there to pick him up? He knew he was only trouble for his brother, but he wanted to bother Harry with his problems so badly right then that it hurt. Why couldn't he be stronger for Harry? Why couldn't he protect him any more?

"H-hey, are you alright? I didn't hurt you too bad did I?"

Stray wrapped arms around his stomach, ducking his head down more. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…." he whispered.

The person started to slightly panic, hands fluttering nervously over Stray's back. "Did I really hurt you!? Where does it hurt? Come on ,it wasn't your fault, just tell me what's wrong!"

Stray started to cry, completely oblivious of the other person's worry, or even their presence. He made no move to brush away his tears, letting them slip past the safe darkness of his bangs.

"Ah! No, don't cry! Crap, where's a mom when you need them!?" The boy held Stray's shoulders, halfway to keep him from running off and halfway to keep him from falling over. He looked around, spotting familiar faces coming down the aisle. "Hey! Fred, George! Help me!"

The twin redheads looked up from their list of books, blinking at him in surprise. "Cedric?"

"Fancy meeting-"

"-you here."

"Quit with the creepy twin-talk for a second, I need a hand here!"

They gave the normally collected blonde a surprised look, before flanking him on either side, looking down at Stray. "Blimey, mate. What'd you do to her?" said Forge.

"I didn't do anything! We bumped into each other coming around the shelf and now she wont stop crying!"

"Maybe you busted her nose." said Gred, tipping up Stray's chin as his brother brushed away his bangs. Stray's eyes were shut, so he couldn't see their worried faces, and he was too wrapped up in his self-destructing thoughts to hear them, but he was more then aware of their hands.

They were too big to be Harry's, too small to be Vernon or Dudley's, and they weren't the clawed talons of his aunt. He like how softly they moved his hair, and how gently they grasped his chin, but at the same time hated that they were doing Harry's job.

His tears started falling faster. Harry's job? Stray couldn't believe how selfish he was. He couldn't expect Harry to care each and every time he was upset. He was tying his brother down to him, chaining him with iron. He was so horrible….

"You two made it worse!" hissed Cedric, voice breaking from stress.

The twins laughed weakly, scratching the backs of their necks. ""But we just touched her…""

"Didn't I tell you the whole reason this started was we bumped into her!? She must be one of those Butterfly Kids or something!"

The twins each started rubbing Stray's back. "Come on now--"

"---it's not so bad. How about when you go to Hogwarts--"

"--in a couple years, you come to--"

"--us and we'll send some firecrackers--"

"--after anyone that bothers you?"

Cedric stared at them in disbelief. "You two are horrible people, you do realize that?"

""Hey, that sort of thing always makes our sister laugh.""

"BOYS!!!"

The third years all jumped, and Stray seemed to get even shorter. They looked around, seeing none other than Molly Weasley stomping down the aisle, murder written all over her face. ""Y-yes Mum?""

"WHAT have I told YOU TWO about TORMENTING people!!??"(1)

"Um, don't?" said one weakly.

"But we really weren't this time!" hurried the other.

"Then WHY is that CHILD CRYING!?"

""We don't know!""

"You expect me to believe THAT!?"

""It wasn't even us! Cedric called us over to help calm her down!""

"It's really true ma'am." said Cedric weakly. He looked back seeing Stray still crying. "Oh, wait! You're a mom, you can help!"

Molly Weasley blinked, always one to believe any other child then her own. "Oh?" she quickly bustled over, looking at Stray from all angles. "Oh dear dear dear!" she clucked. "What ever happened!?"

When Stray didn't answer, she looked around hurriedly. "Where did her brother run off to?! If he's getting their parents, I do hope he hurries!"

The twins blinked. ""Brother?""

"We haven't seen-"

"-any brother."

"Go find him then!"

The adolescent red-heads ran off, before skidding to a halt. ""What's he look like?""

"A first year with black hair and glasses."

""Right-o!"" and they were off again.

Mrs. Weasley started trying to comfort him, but it didn't help. He was in his own little world.

A minute later the twins came back, each with an arm hooked around one of Harry's, holding him in the air as they ran. ""WE GOT HIM!""

The second he saw Stray, Harry leapt out of their grasps, hurrying to his brother's side. "Stray! What's wrong!?"

"H-Harry?" he sniffled, looking up at him with watery eyes. He threw himself at his brother . "I'm so sorry, Harry! I'm sorry!"

Harry wrapped his arms around his older brother, petting his hair and keeping him from falling. "Don't be sorry, Stray, it's okay." he held his twin's trembling hand.

"Don't leave again, please. I'm sorry." Stray sobbed, shoulders shaking.

"I wont leave, alright? I promise I wont leave."

The others, who had stepped back some, uncomfortable with invading their moment, but too worried about Stray to leave, were all confused. Molly was afraid that the boys were all alone, and Stray had gotten lost while Harry went off. The twins had a feeling that they were twins as well, but couldn't figure out what had happened to Stray. Cedric was just all around confused, being an only child and still under the belief that the reason Stray was upset was Cedric's fault.

After Stray was reasonably calm, but not likely to detach himself from his brother anytime soon, Harry looked over at the other's weakly. "I'm sorry about all this. It's my fault. Thank you all for helping."

Stray nodded, although the movement was hard to see with his face buried in Harry's chest. "I-it wasn't Harry's fault, it was mine. I'm sorry for worrying you."

Molly gave a motherly smile. "As long as you're both okay, dear. It was no trouble. I'm Molly Weasley. Is there anything you two need?"

"No thank you ma'am. Me and Stray need to get going, though. Thank you again." Harry hooked a foot under one of the forgotten books, trying to get it to flip up and into his hands. As one can imagine, it didn't work at all, and Stray hadn't noticed what he was doing so he couldn't help either.

The twins each grabbed three books, smiling brightly. ""We've got them, mate.""

Forge looked at him curiously. "Why was Stray carrying around all of these?"

Gred nodded. "There are three of each, all first year books. "

"Are you here-"

"-with two friends?"

"No, we're here with a our guide's son."

"One son?"

"So then you're-"

"-both going into first year?"

"Together?"

"At the same time?"

"Yeah. We're twins. Why?"

The Weasley Bros. looked Stray over again. "She doesn't look-"

"-like an 11 year old."

Harry twitched in sympathy for his older brother, but decided to let it go. "Stray can't exactly help that."

"Yeah I guess-"

"-that's true."

The group moved to the front of the shop, leaving the dark-haired twins with the severely annoyed Draco. "Can't wait to-"

"-see you guys in Hogwarts."

"We promise-"

"to keep an eye-"

"-on your sister."

"Me two." chimed Cedric, who didn't really know why he was still following them.

"You take good care of your sister, now, Harry was it? She's so small and cute, you'll need to look out for her in a big place like Hogwarts."

Harry said he would, and was soon left with his practically catatonic older brother, and the silent Draco.

They were alone for about five minutes, before Draco looked over, smirking. "Your sister?"

"Oh shut up, Draco."

X

Eventually Lucius and Severus came back, the blonde apparently feeling much better, and they paid for their books. They were on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron, when Lucius stuck out his cane, creating a barrier that stopped all three boys. "You know, Severus." he said in a conversational tone. "It seems almost cruel, what we're doing."

Severus had a bad feeling in gut, that told him Lucius was looking to make his life more difficult. "………Fine. I'll humor you. What are we doing, Lucius?"

"This is the boys' first look at the magical world, and we've brought them to a dilapidated pub, a bank, and to get school supplies. Doesn't it seem that they should have something more… enjoyable… to remember from their trip?"

Crap. He wanted to bring them somewhere else. Despite appearances, Lucius loved children, and he could probably spend all day around them happily. But Severus wanted to **_leave_**. "Lucius……" he growled warningly.

Lucius pressed his cane against Harry and Draco 's backs (Stray's side, since he was holding Harry's elbow with both hands), turning it until they were all facing a shop.

"A pet shop?" said Harry, eyes slightly wide.

"Yes. They sell mostly magical creatures though. Certainly ones unlike anything you have ever seen."

To Severus' horror, they were soon all inside the loud, badly-smelling shop. He watched as Draco practically aparated to the back with the birds of prey, and the two muggle-raised boys wandered, slowly gravitating towards the reptiles.

Harry started whispering to the snakes, getting a few to curl up his arms and around Stray's hands.

"Urbana says hello." Harry murmured, still using a soothing voice for fear of his brother losing himself again.

Stray didn't answer verbally, but did detach one hand from Harry's arm, gently stroking Urbana's grayish silver head. "She's pretty…" he said quietly.

Harry smiled in relief. "Urbana agrees."

Stray glanced up at him, slowly extracting from his twin's loosened embrace, embarrassed to have acted so weak in front of Harry. He was older, he needed to act like it.

Suddenly filled with new confidence, Stray stepped foreword, coaxing a foot-long dark blue snake-like creature into his hands from another tank. It was very pretty, but the sharp and calculating look in it's eyes was slightly unnerving.

There was a horrified gasp from behind them, almost a scream, and the boys turned to see a scruffy girl in her early twenties staring at them as if there was a pack of wolves were knowing on their feet. "Put them down! Get away from there!"

Harry and Stray, usually very aware of when they were doing something wrong, rushed to put the snakes back in their cages before backing away.

****The girl ran over, inspecting the boys in panic. "Where did they bite you!? How many times!? We have to get you two to a Healer!"

"We're fine!" squeaked Stray, the woman's wild eyes frightening them both.

"What's wrong, ma'am!?"

The woman looked like she was about to cry. "Those monsters are the most evil creatures to ever enter this shop! I'm so sorry, there should have been a sign or something! "

"But we're fine." said Stray uneasily. He had just gotten over his own mental breakdown, and now someone else had involved him in their own? This was definitely not his day. "The snakes were sweet, they didn't hurt us at all."

She looked as if she was praying with every fiber of her being that Stray was telling the truth. "Really? They didn't do anything at all?" they nodded uncertainly. "No biting or jumping at your face or anything?"

"Nothing." said Harry, feeling defensive. His 'protector' sense was going slightly haywire, but who cared? Dangerous or not, he already felt a bond toward Urbana, and he didn't like the idea of anyone talking bad about her.

The girl looked them over, then the snakes, back and forth over and over. Finally she seemed to come to a decision. "Alright, kid." she said, looking at Harry. "You can have the Egagne, the snake you were holding before for free."

Harry blinked. "What?"

"That monster's been here for so long, the owner of this place said that if she ever to took a liking to anyone at all, they could have her. No one can even get near the cages without her rearing back, and you held her. I think the question of her liking you is done with." the girl turned to Stray. "Pretty much the same story for the Ukases, only she's old as time at this point and it would be cruel to give her to you. But," she pointed to the snake, who wore a very human expression of annoyance on it's face. "She's got a little egg, so I'll let you have that. It should hatch in the next couple weeks."

Stray and Harry stared up at her. ""You really mean all that?""

It was her turn to look surprised. "Yea…….. Are you two twins or something?"

""Yes. Why?""

"No reason…." She tapped the Ukases' cage with her wand, and the serpant promptly fell asleep. She opened the top, rooting around under it's coil's before she handed Stray the egg. "You two can get the Egagne out on your own."

She strutted off, and Harry quickly took out Urbana again, hissing excitedly in her ear (a/n: Do snakes have ears?). Stray stared down at the egg in amazement, turning it slowly in his hands. It was completely dry and warm, but it looked as if it was covered in blood. It was creepy, but beautiful at he same time.

They received disbelieving looks when they showed their pets off to Lucius and Severus. They actually talked to the owner himself about it, a very attractive man with pointy ears and dark red hair. The man had sent Stray a knowing look when they left, one he wasn't entirely sure of the meaning behind, but he couldn't help but feel that he knew the man. It was ridiculous, obviously, since he'd **_know _**if he'd ever met a man like that, but the feeling remained all the same.

****By the time they were back at the leaky cauldron, the twins were too tired to listen to Draco's boasts about his new black, four-eyed Nevar (2), and Draco was nearly to tired to boast about it. They were close to asleep when they got home, barely registering that their family was out and had left a note (for the wizards' to see) that Aunt Marge had fallen and they would be with her in the hospital until morning.

The twins bid farewell to their guides and Draco, locking the door and making their way upstairs. On the inside of the door to their room was the real note, ordering them to go to bed, no dinner, no cleaning, and no freakish stuff where they could see it.

Stray and Harry easily hid their belongings around the room, beneath floorboards and inside their broken wardrobe and under the bed.

Nearly falling over from exhaustion, Harry set up a soft little haven in the corner, under another floorboard, filling it with a few huge, clean shirts from Dudley's room (he wouldn't notice anyways), setting in Urbana and Stray's egg.

When they had everything done, they both collapsed onto the bed, which squeaked angrily, despite that even their combined weight wasn't significant. Stray curled up against Harry, and the younger brother let an arm flop over his side. "Don't leave me…" he whispered sleepily, burying his face against Harry's chest.

Harry smiled, but didn't open his eyes, pulling Stray closer. "Don't worry. I'll always be around to protect you."

Stray relaxed completely, drifting off into a dreamless sleep., nothing existing to him but the warmth of his brother.

X

_**(squints eyes at last couple of paragraphs) Hm. Soft porn. How odd.**_

_**(shrugs) Yeah yeah, I know what you are all gonna say, don't bother. The thing is, as some have commented, Stray is entirely too dependant on Harry. I did, in fact plan it this way, so don't get all huffy alright? If you had Stray's life, you would be too. **_

_**(yawns) He'll grow out of it. It's why I can't possibly have him in the same House as Harry. He'll never grow at all, he needs to be away from his brother a little longer than ten to twenty minutes. **_

_**(1) Yeah. My mom doesn't yell, and I've never heard my boyfriends yell, so I'm writing the way his brother yells. (sweat drops) It's weird it's like 'annoyed voice, raised voice, SCREAM'. He's the only person I've heard take on the 'I am so pissed you are going to be grounded FOREVER' tone. **_

_**(2) you know those birds in Raven's mind from Teen titans? Yeah, I'm renaming them Nevars. **_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hmmm. I am the lazy today. I dun wanna fix mistakes, and I dun wanna write more. Bitch if you want, I dun care. If the fact that my boyfriend's Emo brother is making him Emo, which has him all Emo, which only makes him more Emo, I can be freaking Emo too.**_

X

Stray sighed contentedly as he curled up against his brother. He could feel that they had slept well into the day, which could only mean one thing.

They were locked in again.

Not particularly interested, he tugged Harry tighter. The sheet wasn't of much use, it wasn't warm at all. It hardly seemed worth the effort of keeping around him. Oh well. Harry made a **_much _**better heater anyways.

He listened idly as Vernon complained about dinner, feeling a not-so small amount of satisfaction that the obese man was, in a roundabout way, complimenting their cooking.

Their little victory would have to be heard later, though. He was sure Harry would love to hear it, but at the moment, he deserved to sleep.

Stray felt a pang in his chest as he remembered the trouble he'd put his brother through. He was embarrassed by how easily he had fallen apart, what ever happened to the older sibling being the tough protector? Didn't older brothers set up traps and steal homework and ditch the younger ones in the real world?

Stray cocked his head to the side, letting his hair fall over his shoulder. Maybe he should rearrange the things in Harry's trunk before they went to school. He never remembered where he put things, and that would just confuse him more. That'd be funny to see, not to mention he could play the 'all knowing older brother' card when Harry panicked.

……

Stray would do it later. For now, he'd just like to cuddle up to his snuggle-stick (a/n: Inside joke) and cuss the sunlight to hell and back.

X

Harry banged the back of his head softly against the wall, watching dully as Stray ran his long fingers over the bloody-looking egg, staring at it like he could hatch it with only his eyes. "Stop. Being. Creepy." he muttered between thumps.

"I will if you stop. Being. Annoying." Stray mocked, his fingers never stilling, though a stifled smirk was tugging at his lips.

"**_You two are ssso amusssssssing…"_**chuckled Urbana, slithering up and around Harry's leg. The youth scratched under her chin, watching her long tongue flick between her teeth fondly. "**_You and your little mate playing hard-to-get. Sssso cute."_**

****Harry rolled his eyes. "**_Ssstray is my nesst-mate. Not my mate-mate."_**

****Urbana looked up at him in a way that could only be described as smug. "**_Assss you've ssaid. But jusst you wait. I'll bet my right fang he bearss you many eggsss."_**

_**"Uh-huh. Whatever. I don't feel like arguing thisss again, Urbana."**_

****The grey-blue serpent slithered up his chest, weaving her upper half almost drunkenly in front of his face, black eyes glittering. "**_When he laysss them, may I be the nessst-mother? "_**

****Harry raised an eyebrow dubiously. "**_Nessst-mother, Urbana?"_**

_**"Yessss, sssily ssspeaker! Nesst-mother! I would watch your eggsss when you can't, and they would all call me Sssilcesstisssilssssss and I would bring them ratsss to munch on when they are peckish."**_

_**"Yeah…… sure…… if I ever have little sssnaky babiesss, you can be the nesst-mother."**_

****Urbana started up with a little happy snake dance, wiggling away and across the bed, singing about all the little babies she would help raise. Harry just rolled his eyes. Stray had already promised her she could be his own little serpent's aunt, so he had pretty much seen this dance already, though she seemed more animated this time.

Stray glanced up from his egg. "Is she doing the Aunt dance again?"

"Yeah, pretty much." shrugged Harry, deciding to save Stray's dignity for maybe the hundredth time in his life. Poor guy, he needed to work out, drink milk, eat red meat, **_something_**.

When they got to Hogwarts, he was putting him on a strict, macho-man diet.

If nothing else, he would get him away from rabbit food.

X

The month passed very slowly for Stray and Harry. After a week or so they were let out of their room, ad set to do the chores again, so everything was at his normal rhythm. Well, almost.

Their relatives pretty much left them alone, generally keeping away from whatever room they were cleaning. It got to the point where Petunia actually did her own hair and makeup, though her nails were still Stray's responsibility (as she didn't know how to do it herself).

Harry shoved his hand down a mouse hole in the garden, all the way up to the elbow. Stray blinked dazedly at him, holding up a hand over his sunburned head. "What are you doing?" he asked tiredly, completely worn out from being in the sun for so long. He only ever worked outside at night, after all, unless it was very cloudy. This was maybe the fifth time he could remember ever halving done otherwise.

Harry didn't answer, pushing his hand in a little farther, before pulling it out once more, a mouse in hand. "Feeding Urbana."

Stray wrinkled up his nose, sticking his tongue out, before shuffling to the other side of the yard to work under a tree.

"You might as well get used to it." sang Harry, watching with fascination as Urbana enjoyed the meal from his sleeve. "Once yours comes out, it'll be eating mice and stuff all the time."

"Ick." Stray mumbled, yanking at a few stray weeds. He rubbed the egg he had hidden in in his oversized, flower-and-fuzz covered overalls, sending a secret prayer that he was the owner of the only vegetarian snake in existence.

Finally having had enough (that is bad grammar isn't it?) of gardening, and knowing in the backs of their heads that the Dursely's were too nervous around them to say anything about missed weeds, they went inside to the cool, air-conditioned kitchen.

Harry wiped of the table, or rather the potato-chip crumbs Dudley had left all over it, and Stray wandered over to the stove, picking at the burnt soup left on one of the burners.

A minute passed in relative silence, before Stray gasped in absolute horror. Harry whipped around, dropping his dishtowel in his hast to get to his brother's side. "What is it!?"

Stray, looked at him out of the corner of his wide eyes. "Th-the calendar…" he hissed shakily.

Harry looked up at the boring, petunia covered calendar, and his eyes widened as well. It was the last day of august and they had yet to ask for a ride to the train station!!!! How was that even possible! Going to the school was pretty much all they thought about!

With a very quick, quiet, uber-interrupted, completely understood conversation (an: Like 'we should-'but then-''how do we-?''with the-''so it's like-?''yeah' 'okay'), they composed the other's appearance and then hurried to the doorway of the living room where their 'family' was watching television.

They hesitated for a moment before, to Harry's surprise, Stray stepped forward, hands clasped and eyes down. "Aunt Petunia? Uncle Vernon?"

They both glanced up, the disgust on Petunia's horsy face somehow making the beat-red of Vernon's look somewhat less ugly. "What is it you want now, Freak?" spat the woman.

A shiver went up spine, but it went unnoticed to all but Harry. "To get to the school we have to ride a train tomorrow. Could you drop us off at the train station?"

Vernon scoffed. "All the flying motorcycles out of fuel?" he snorted, referring to a dream he'd heard Harry tell Stray about years ago (He'd been punished afterwards for making up silly fantasies). Harry flushed from the doorway, which he had somehow become attached to.

Stray ignored him, looking straight at Petunia unblinkingly. "Could you please drop us off at the train station, Aunt Petunia?" he asked levelly, almost robotically.

Petunia smirked, but there was uncertainty in her face. Stray's molten silver eyes were staring right through her, and the calm, blankness was unnatural. Was his nearly-human stage coming to an end!? But there were still a few years before his purging. No, no, he wasn't all demon yet. "It's a silly way to get to a magic school, a train, but I suppose I will. If it'll get you two little monsters out of my house, I'll be **_happy _**to."

Stray nodded, still not blinking, and walked calmly into the kitchen with Harry, and up the stairs to their room. When the door was closed, he collapsed onto his back on the bed, letting out a sigh of relief. "That was scary."

Harry stared at him like he'd grown another head. "Wow. You're getting tough lately."

Stray, who'd been rubbing at his dry eyes, looked up at him sulkily. "I've always been tough!" he pouted.

The image was too much. Harry cracked up, dropping sideways onto the bed and holding his ribs. Stray gave him an annoyed look, leaning over him to put his egg on the desk. Halfway back, Harry grabbed him around the torso, flipping him over.

The smaller boy squeaked in surprise, which soon became a growl of annoyance as Harry lifted him into his lap, holding him like a baby. "You're so cute, Stray! Like a little china doll." Harry sang , grinning like a smart-ass.

Stray crossed his arm, one of his eyebrows in danger of being lost within his hair. "I'm not afraid to go back to prison Harry, I do hope you realize that."

X

The twins fidgeted uncomfortably in the back seat of Vernon's company car. Petunia had a look on her face like there was crap under her nose, which Stray's frayed nerves made hilarious. After an entire lifetime of driving (20 minutes), they pulled up to the station. She stayed in the car as they struggled to remove their large trunks, watching them in the mirror, maybe to make sure they didn't scratch the car's paint.

They'd barely closed the door before she drove off, leaving them to drag their heavy belongings into the station.

They got a few pitying glances as they scooted the trunks slowly and painfully to a row of trolleys, but no one came to help. A few people would take a few steps foreword, but then they would notice the clock over their heads and hurry off.

Apparently they were in a hurry.

Harry and Stray pulled a tricky maneuver to get the trunks on the trolleys, involving their knees, necks, and pinky toes, before walking slowly through the crowds, counting their way through the platforms.

As they went the twins noticed something very disturbing. All of the platforms were nice, normal, even numbers. Not slash mark or a decimal point to be seen anywhere.

Their hearts stopped as they reached 9. They went forward, stopping at 10. They backtracked to 9 again.

Horrifyingly enough, on either side were lots of other platforms, but it wasn't anywhere.

The mentally and emotionally exhausted boys slumped on top of their trunks, ignoring the dirty looks of the people that were now forced to go an entire step out of their ways to get around them.

"Harry?" said Stray dully, rubbing the bellbottom pocket that housed his unusually warm red egg.

"Yeah?" mumbled his brother, trying his best to solely concentrate on the feel of Urbana sliding around his torso, beneath his shirt.

"There isn't a Platform 9 and ¾ is there?"

"I don't think so…"

They side as one, turning their eyes to the other side of the walkway in the vain hope that they were incredibly, unimaginably stupid.

No such luck, though they had their doubts about the stupid thing.

It was way too elaborate to be a trick, but a drug-induced hallucination sounded about right. It would explain why the Dursleys were afraid of them. Maybe while they'd been out of it they'd bitten one of them or something.

But then again, when would they have gotten the opportunity to find a dealer?

As they both (creepily enough) shared the wildly imaginative thoughts, a very loud noise reached them.

""Well if it isn't the little mouse!!""


	11. Chapter 11

_**flops back in seat) aahhhh, sleepy sleepy. Sorry everyone. Ran out of ideas. Forgive me. **_

X

Before the twins could react, they were each tackled from behind, nearly being thrown from their trolleys. They wind-milled their arms to stay up, but it only just worked.

Stray looked over his shoulder at the grinning, freckly face. "Mousy?" he said blankly.

The spotted monster gave him a devilish look. "Yep! 'cuz you're so jumpy!" He went around the trolley, keeping bent so they were always at the same level. He pointed a finger at himself. "You remember me?"

Stray didn't need to think about it, but he pretended to. "……..no."

The slightly older boy pouted. "Really? You sure?"

"I think I'd remember you…." Stray sent Harry a pathetic look, only to see his brother talking animatedly to the Freckled Demon's clone. "Um… Harry?"

Harry blinked, looking over at him. "Oh. Stray, these were the guys that helped you at the bookstore."

Stray considered pouting. Great. His damned emotions were dead set on ruining the whole magical world for him. He should have expected as much. "Oh……"

The guy smiled again, super-bright. "My name's Fred Weasley."

"I'm Stray Evans."

"That's odd."

"That means a lot coming from a Red Weasel."

The boy laughed loudly, but stopped as a much more familiar voice yelled "Boys! Come ALONG! We'll MISS the TRAIN!!"

The boys hopped up, grabbing their trolleys, and the darker twins quickly followed. An entire family of red-heads ran through the bricks making up the arch, the shock of seeing it freezing Harry and Stray in their tracks.

"How… did they do that?" mumbled Harry.

"I don't have a clue."

"Think we should try it?"

"I guess…"

They walked up to the barrier-type-thingy, poking it in random spots. Nope. All solid. Maybe it needed more force?

They leaned their backs up against it, holding onto their trolleys as they did so. Nothing happened for a minute, up until they both exerted extra force. At the same time.

Baaaaaaad idea.

One second there was a very sturdy, uncomfortable wall behind him, the next there was only air.

The twins fell back stiff-diver style, hitting their entire bodies on the ground.

"Holy…"

"Mother of…."

"Ouch."

A pair of freckly faces appeared above them. ""You two alright?""

""We're _**just **_peachy.""

The older twins helped the younger ones up, and even aided them in getting the trunks onto the train. They gave a quick goodbye, before running off to see a spider that another student apparently had.

The boys shrugged as they slid their trunks across the carpeted hall and into the first empty compartment they came across. Deciding that the large boxes looked perfectly happy on the floor, and that the overhead compartments seemed a bit stuffy, they flopped into opposite seats.

It wasn't long before the train lurched to a start, and the calls of parents and children rose to a nearly intolerable level. Hadn't they said goodbye before they got on the train? That soon dulled as well, once the windows offered a view of the countryside.

"This is…odd." said Stray at length, crossing his arms.

"Seems like everything has been for a while." Harry agreed, unconsciously crossing his arms as well.

They both sighed, dropping back their heads and propping their feet on the trunks simultaneously.

"Whoa."

They looked up to see a boy their age standing in the doorway, which was apparently well oiled as they hadn't heard a thing. He had a dark complexion, perhaps Italian, with light blue eyes peering over fashionable rectangular glasses, and wavy black, well-styled hair.

""What's whoa?"" they asked carelessly, not showing their surprise at his arrival. They were used to having Petunia sneak up on them, who was practically invisible and mute compared to the rest of their relatives.

The boy chuckled slightly. "It's like watching someone messing around in front of their mirror." he scanned them quickly, smirking. "A warped and dusty mirror, but a mirror all the same."

The twins looked at one another, then back to him, mildly irritated expressions painting oppositely attractive features. ""Who's the reflection, which of us is real?""

The boy watched them for a moment, before a smirk lit up his face. So quick that Harry pretty much missed the movement, the boy was in Stray's seat, looming over him, with a largish hand stroking his pale chin. "Why the more beautiful of the two, of course." he purred, face less than an inch from Stray's.

There was a millisecond of time in which nothing at all happened. Harry stared at the boy, the boy stared at Stray, and Stray stared at the boy as if he were mad.

But of course, these things never last long.

Harry flew across the compartment, grabbing the Italian(?) boy by the collar of his shirt, hauling him away from Stray's seat. Said twin gave the boy a kick in the stomach, and their combined power sent him flying into the hall, crashing against another closed door.

"Stay the hell away from Stray!" yelled Harry, glaring murderously, before slamming the door shut. He took a few shaky, calming breathes, before turning around. "I can't believe that creep, can y--?"

Harry cut himself off, jaw dropping open in disbelief. The Weasley twins had their tall, thin forms draped around the compartment, managing to take up all the room there was, seeming as comfortable as if they'd been there for hours already. Stray looked up at Harry from his new seat on the edge of one of the trunks, legs and arms crossed, a fairly pissed expression on his face. "Did you see them come in here?" he asked, flipping his wavy hair over one shoulder. "Because I didn't, and that bothers me."

Harry looked at the door, then the twins. "…How did you two get in here?"

"Does it really-"

"-matter, Harry?"

"I guess not."

Stray pouted slightly, feeling mildly betrayed. Well, screw him. He didn't need Harry _**all **_the time! Stray stood abruptly, brushing off the back of his pants. He went to the door, pausing slightly as he waited for Harry to ask where he was going. When he didn't, the raven haired boy turned his head slightly, only to see him talking with the freckled beasts again. Dammit!

He slipped out the door quietly, knowing that Harry wouldn't notice. He crossed his arms behind his back to keep from fidgeting as he looked for something interesting to do or see.

He randomly tuned into the conversations going on within different compartments, but there was nothing that really grabbed his attention. He wasn't a gossip hungry vulture, like his Aunt, but it was always useful to know that sort of thing. He couldn't count the times he and Harry had avoided trouble because he'd heard a conversation that hadn't sounded like it applied to them.

Stray sighed unhappily, leaning against a wall and sliding to the floor. He wasn't sure why, but being away from Harry wasn't hurting him as much as it had before. Maybe because there was a completely straight line leading to his brother, and that he knew just where to find him. It was odd to be away from him, but not as depressing as before, despite that actual depression tugging at his hair.

But than again, he was bored. And boredom wasn't an equal trade for passive emotions. He was eleven, after all.

The train gave a slight lurch, at the same time as a compartment not too far away flashed pink. Stray toppled over, plopping sideways on the carpeted floor. He blinked bemusedly, wondering how long he could stay in that position before his arms fell off.

He managed a full five minutes before a pair of bony ankles came into his sight. He turned his eyes sideways, looking up at the girl from the floor, more than thankful that she was wearing robes. If she'd been in a skirt, he'd have been scarred for life, and that would suck. "Yeah?"

The girl looked down her nose at him, bushy hair fuzzing around wildly. "You can't lay in the middle of the hallway. You're in peoples way!"

"No, I'm in _**your **_way."

"Exactly!"

"Step over me if you're in a hurry. Bugging me will only keep you."

The girl scowled. "What's wrong with you! Girls like you are all the same! You think you can act however you want, just because you're pretty!"

Stray decided that he was in just the _**perfect **_position to bite ankles. He leaned foreword, mouth open, but the fuzzy girl turned on her heel and stomped off before he got the chance to get her.

Oh well. He'd get her next time.

X (Ugh. My head hurts. Must reach…. Freaking….. Hat)

A couple hours later found Stray back in the compartment, leaning on Harry's shoulder, half asleep, the younger twin also nodding off. The red-headed twins were making a very elaborate card tower with a few packs of Muggle cards, full of gravity-defying hoops and spins. There were even words written in, though most weren't the type one would repeat in polite company.

After an entire lifetime of riding the train, the door slid open, showing none other than Bushy again. Stray ignored her, choosing to stay in his half-way conscious daydream about moving to a cozy little house on the side of a misty mountain with Harry.

Bushy sniffed when she caught site of Stray, but didn't say anything, seeming content to just glare reproachfully. "We're almost to the school." she announced to the compartment at large. "I suggest you put your robes on now."

The Weasley's nodded, standing up and pulling their Hogwarts robes from their, apparently infinite, pockets. The raven haired twins gave them semi-annoyed blank looks, before Stray dropped down on the floor, pulling out their own robes from the trunks. He handed one to Harry, and they both quickly pulled them over their clothes.

The pair of pairs stepped out, maneuvering through the crowds and off of the train. Along with a hurried goodbye, Fred and George instructed them to go past the giant man and into one of the boats, preferably a middle one, before they disappeared in the crowds.

Deciding to take their advice, the twins clasped hand and hurried down the slippery rock path.

X

Have to end it here

HAND HURTSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Patty betta be happy!


End file.
